Why We Can’t Get Through to Millennials About Smoking and Drinking?
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Why We Can’t Get Through to Millennials About Smoking and Drinking?

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generation in the worst healthI remember being 15 years old and sitting in the lobby of a teen outreach center waiting to get birth control pills. Riding the high of being a responsible young person, I picked up a pamphlet titled “Are You An Alcoholic?” which had a list of 20 questions for self-diagnosis. Though I certainly didn’t think I was an alcoholic (“Such a crazy, extreme label for someone as young and cool as me!” I thought)—I still took the survey and answered “yes” to at least 16 of the questions. If this was supposed to alarm me, it didn’t. But it did validate my belief that teetotaler squares (like the ones who clearly created this questionnaire) would never understand what it was like to be cool.

Flash forward to me as an enlightened (and now sober) adult: I still believe that teenagers and young adults see the world that way—full of a bunch of conservative and cautious old farts who just need to live a little. A recent article in Bloomberg about the drinking, smoking and eating habits of millennials confirms this philosophy.

Oh to Be Young Again

Here’s the story: Gallup, Inc. compiled data based on interviews with more than 2.3 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 70. For the study, participants were asked about their lifestyle habits. Additionally, obesity rates were calculated based on their reported height and weight. The results aren’t too surprising: millennials (defined as those between 20 and 36 years old) showed a lower obesity rate than their older counterparts. Yet among them there was a higher number of smokers, heavy drinkers and crappy eaters than those of the Gen-X and Baby Boomer generations. The explanation for their healthy BMIs is a simple one—people under 35 generally have more active lifestyles and better metabolisms. In our younger days, many of us had an easier time staying in shape when we were going out all the time—dancing, going to concerts, going on dates and working jobs that required more physical activity (like waiting tables). Plus we had the golden gift of youth on our sides: a bottomless supply of energy on little to no sleep.

When examining these results, there is also the drug and alcohol factor. Though excessive alcohol consumption tends to put weight on older adults, the alcoholic lifestyle of a young person may actually keep them skinnier—particularly if they drink instead of eat. Add smoking and coffee to the mix—both appetite suppressants—and you have described the fitness program I followed for many years. Drugs are also the ultimate diet aid. The term “heroin chic” is derived from the look of someone being so underweight that the only explanation for their appearance is that they are strung-out and malnourished. Also, though there are certainly exceptions, meth and cocaine addicts tend to favor a slender frame as well.

However, as those of us more mature (cough) adults know, this kind of lifestyle can’t go on forever and skinny certainly doesn’t equal healthy or well. Smoking starts to make us feel (and look) like shit, drinking starts to produce unmanageable consequences and drugs will most likely kill you (I am not going to say anything bad about coffee because for this recovering alcoholic, Joe is here to stay).

When Hip Turns Hypocritical

What is very surprising is that even with youth, energy and sophomoric hope about the future on their side, millennials are still only one to three percent above the reported current rate of smokers and heavy drinkers for Gen-X and Baby Boomers. Say what?! How can we expect the younger generation to “smarten up” about their lifestyle choices when we—their role models—are still partying well into our 60s? Though I personally haven’t seen a smoking grandma in decades, the data tells a different story.

While I know wisdom is a point of pride for the aged (along with the assumed right to bestow life’s lessons upon our successors), our soap-boxing can only be done in good conscience if we are, in fact, adhering to what we have learned. If we Olds think that we can get away with a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude, we are spinning our wheels. So if health professionals are concerned about the growing bad habits of youth, the solution is not a “come to Jesus” article slinging facts and data. The answer is for us elders to pull a Michael Jackson and look at the Man in the Mirror for a change. We should set a healthy example of wellness and refrain from OD-ing on pills, powders and potions and become the basic, teetotaler squares we once judged.

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About Author

Danielle Stewart is a Los Angeles-based writer and recovering comedian. She has written for Showtime, E!, and MTV, as well as print publications such as Us Weekly and Life & Style Magazine. She returned to school and is currently working her way towards a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She loves coffee, Law & Order SVU, and her emotional support dog, Benson.