Rates of Binge Drinking on the Rise
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By Maria Cendejas
About 1 in every 6 adults in the United States binges on alcohol, according to an article in Medpage Today.
The binges occur once a week and include an average of 8 drinks each time.
Binge drinking is classified as at least 4 drinks for women and 5 for men. It carries substantial risks and accounts for more than half of annual deaths, estimated to be 80,000, and ¾ of the $223.5 billion in economic costs due to excessive alcohol use. It also increases the risk of problems like car accidents, unwanted pregnancy, violence, suicide, sexually transmitted disease, etc.
According to the authors of the study, the Community Preventative Services Task Force recommended several strategies to reduce the amount of binge drinking in 2005:
Raise the price of alcohol
Limit the number of stores that sell alcohol and limit when alcohol can be sold
Avoid further privatization of alcohol sales in states with government-operated or contracted liquor stores
Hold those who sell alcohol responsible for harm related to selling to minors and to intoxicated patrons
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers examined data from 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The survey was conducted surveyed by landline or cell phonesA total on 457,677 adults in 48 states (except for South Dakota and Tennessee) and the District of Columbia.
The findings are shown below.
17.1% of people surveyed said they binge drank in the past 30 days. The rate was twice as high in men as in women.
The binge drinking rate was at the highest among 18-24 year olds at 28.2%
The frequency of binge drinking, in all demographics, was the highest it’s been in 65 years.
Non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics were most likely to binge drink (18% and 17.9%), and non-Hispanics from other racial ethnic groups and Hispanics had the highest consumption per episode (8.7 and 8.4 drinks).
There was state-to-state difference in the rate of binge drinking, ranging from 25.6% in Wisconsin to 10.9% in Utah.
The authors said limitations of the analysis include the use of self-reported data and the fact that the data set used is developmental and subject to change. It also left out people living in colleges and the military.
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