The bad habits of the 'wellness' generation: How Gen Z are shunning millennial vices like drinking alcopops and smoking for taking ketamine and vaping - as studies lay bare 'dramatic' impact of social changes By Rory Tingle and Barney Calman and Emily Stearn and John Ely and Hannah Mcdonald Published: 11:26, 31 May 2024 | Updated: 11:55, 31 May 2024 e-mail 3 View comments Gen Z are shunning millennial vices like downing alcopops and smoking while adopting their own risky habits, from vaping to taking ketamine. Older generations' predilection for binge drinking and cigarettes have typically been among the biggest causes of ill health. Most drugs - from ecstasy to cannabis - were also consumed at higher rates by millennials than the teenagers of today.
But while Gen Z drink less and take fewer drugs, experts warn other social changes are putting their health at risk. While traditional cigarettes now seem desperately uncool to many members of Gen Z, vaping is now at endemic levels Professor Iain Buchan, a public health expert from the University of Liverpool, said youngsters are living very different lives from their parents. 'If you look at the change in our energy balance, the way we eat, what we eat, the way we move around and relate to each other, all these things have changed dramatically in the last 20 years,' he told MailOnline.
'Although we are more connected we are also more sedentary as everything is done sitting down, online, or fixed to a device. Read More Young fami.