(NewsNation) — Most people have heard of “Dry January,” the trend where people avoid alcohol for the entire month, but for many millennials and Gen Z’ers, it’s just another month on the calendar.

“I think the stigma (of sobriety) has decreased,” Aaron Mowen, the director of recreational wellness at Grand Valley State University told NewsNation affiliate WOOD-TV. “If you say that you’re sober, or I offer you a beverage and you say ‘No,’ that’s cool now.”

Whether it’s a lifestyle change, a substance use disorder, or just being turned off by the taste, young people across the United States and other parts of the world appear to be giving up alcohol.

The share of college-age adults abstaining from alcohol has grown from 20 to 28 percent over the last two decades, a University of Michigan study found.

One of the driving factors behind the movement is social media.

“Ninety percent of Gen Z is active on social media, 80% of millennials are active on social media. There’s been a huge trend on social media of health consciousness,” explained Lauren Walsh, a GVSU graduate who studied the sober movement for her senior project. “Gen Z and Millennials are both, kind of, stepping away from alcohol and realizing that it has really negative effects.”

Over time, drinking alcohol can lead to the development of numerous health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and memory problems, and cause at least eight different kinds of cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In fact, alcohol has such harmful effects on the human body the World Health Organization announced earlier this year that there is no level of safe alcohol consumption.

NewsNation affiliates The Hill and WOOD-TV contributed to this report.