The word "are" is used, both generally and in the headline, to indicate the present tense. Similarly, the gerund "drinking" is a present participle. The article

The word "are" is used, both generally and in the headline, to indicate the present tense. Similarly, the gerund "drinking" is a present participle. The article isn't titled "Why Do Older Americans Drink So Much?" and if it were, leading and focusing on a story from many years ago would not seem nearly as odd. Similarly, I'm quite sure they could find plenty of anecdotes about older Americans who currently drink too much that would better match the headline as written. As it stands, it's incongruous and misleading in a strange or perhaps lazy way.