Has beverage composition of alcohol consumption in Sweden changed over time? An age-period-cohort analysis

In recent years, beverage composition of total alcohol consumption has changed substantially in Sweden. As beverage choice is strongly associated with drinking practices, our paper aims to analyse trends in beverage composition of alcohol consumption by age, period and cohort.

Age-period-cohort (APC) analysis was conducted using monthly data from the Swedish Alcohol Monitoring Survey (2003-2018). The sample consisted of n = 260 633 respondents aged 16-80 years. APC analysis was conducted on drinkers only (n = 193 954; 96 211 males, 97 743 females). Beverage composition was defined as the beverage-specific proportion of total intake in litre ethanol. Fractional multinomial logit regression was applied to estimate the independent effects of age, period and cohort on trends in beverage composition.

Regression models revealed statistically significant effects of age on all beverages except for medium-strength beer and spirits in males. Controlling for age and cohort, decreasing trends were found over time for medium-strength beer and spirits. The proportion of regular beer increased statistically significantly in males and the proportion of wine in females, whereas the trends for the opposite sex remained stable in each case. Predictions for cohorts showed statistically significant decreasing trends for medium-strength beer in males, lower proportions for regular beer and higher proportions for spirits in the youngest cohorts.

The increasing proportion of wine drinking, which is associated with less risky drinking practices, may decrease alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. Increasing proportions of spirits in the youngest cohorts raises concerns of a possible revival in spirits consumption among the youngest.