Although the estimates for rates of increase in alcohol use prevalence and binge drinking prevalence are much lower than expected based on the earlier results from the NESARC (Grant et al., 2017), the fact that these increases are occurring in the context of an aging population raises significant public health concerns. The largest increases for both outcomes were observed among individuals ages 50 and older, and substantial increases in binge drinking were observed for individuals aged 30–49. Using NSDUH data, Keyes and Miech have previously observed that the birth cohorts with the highest rates of binge episodic drinking—adjusting for age and period effects—were born approximately between 1950 and 1984 (Keyes and Miech, 2013). Similarly, age-period-cohort analyses using NAS data found elevated alcohol use and binge drinking among the 1976–1985 birth cohorts (Kerr et al., 2009, Kerr et al., 2013). These individuals were between the ages of 31 and 65 toward the end of our observation period, which may account for the increases in the 30–49 and 50–64 year age groups. Keyes and Miech (Keyes and Miech, 2013) also found that
