Most studies find that people generally underreport alcohol consumption by about 40% to 60%. This doesn’t mean that people always lie about their drinking. To some degree, people simply don’t remember accurately.

 But there are patterns to this. Clearly, people react to social expectations. And they want to maintain a good image. So they tend to underreport alcohol consumption. 

People seem especially likely to underestimate their drinking levels to doctors. Those under age 21 in the U.S. in the may even deny that they drink. In such cases, they actually lie.

When people underreport drinking to researchers they cause false conclusions. 

Think about it. Let’s say researchers report that having three drinks a day cause a certain problem. In reality, it probably takes five or six drinks daily to cause it.

Also, underreporting misleads public policy makers. The U.S. recommends that men not have more than two drinks per day. In that case, they should probably recommend that men shouldn’t have over three daily drinks. This is important. Moderate drinking improves health and long life.

Researchers use many different methods to calculate when people underreport drinking And they also conduct research around the world. Yet they repeatedly find under-reporting in the range of about 40% to 60%. 

A Study

Here’s a good example. Researchers in Canada studied 43,371 people. In this study they compared the reports of drinkers’ consumption with actual sales figures.

Here’s what they reported.

• • People underreported wine consumption by about 38%.
  • They underreported beer drinking by around 49%.
  • Drinkers underreported their spirits consumption by around 66%.
  • Men and women underreported their alcohol consumption by roughly the same degree.
  • Those under the minimum legal drinking age greatly underreported their alcohol consumption.
  • Less frequent drinkers underreported their consumption more than frequent drinkers.¹

People Tend To Underreport Alcohol Drinking

Web

• • Drinking Guidelines. Government Guidelines Logical?
  • Drinking Guidelines Fail. Self-Underreporting Usual.
  • How Much Should I drink for Good Health and Long Life?

Readings

• • Bellis, M., et al. Off Measure: How We Underestimate the Amount We Drink.
  • Boniface, S & Shelton, N. How is alcohol consumption affected if we account for under-reporting? Euro J Pub Health, 23(6), 1076-1081.
  • Livingston, M. & Callinan, S. Underreporting in alcohol surveys. Whose drinking is underestimated? J Stud Alc Drugs, 76(1), 158-164.
  • Poikolainen, K. Underestimation of recalled alcohol intake in relation to actual consumption. Brit J Addict, 80, 215-216.

Footnote

1. 1. Stockwell, T., et al. Who underreports their alcohol consumption in telephone surveys and by how much? Addict, 109, 1657-1666.