E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAbout 17 percent of U.S. adults, or 38 million people, say they binge drink, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks for women, and five or more drinks for men, on one occasion.
Binge drinkers reported an average of four episodes a month, each consisting of eight drinks at most, according to the report, which is based on data gathered during a 2010 survey.
The biggest group of binge drinkers are young adults, with about 28 percent of people between ages 18 and 24 reporting binge drinking. Men are twice as likely as women to say they binge drink.
A 2009 survey showed that about 15 percent of U.S. adults binge drink. The apparent uptick in prevalence is likely due to the polling of more people with cellphones in the current report, the researchers said.
Binge drinkers are at risk for many health problems, including liver disease, certain cancers, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies exposed to alcohol. They also are at increased risk of being in car accidents, and engaging in violent behavior.
"Binge drinking causes a wide range of health, social and economic problems, and this report confirms the problem is really widespread," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC. "We need to work together to implement proven measures to reduce binge drinking at national, state and community levels."
Which state binges the most?
Drinking too much, and binge drinking, causes more than 80,000 deaths in the United States each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death, according to the report. It was responsible for more than $223.5 billion in economic costs in 2006.
In the new report, the CDC analyzed data from a 2010 telephone survey on alcohol consumption. The survey involved about 458,000 U.S. adults who reported their drinking habits for the last 30 days.
Although the percentage of people reporting binge drinking was highest among young people, it was binge drinkers ages 65 and older who over-consumed the most often: this group reported an average of five to six episodes a month.
The state with the highest percentage of people reporting binge drinking was Wisconsin, with 25.6 percent. Those in Wisconsin also consumed the most alcohol during a given binge, at 9 drinks on an occasion. The frequency of binge drinking was lowest in New Jersey (3.6 times per month) and highest in Kentucky (about 6 times per month).
Utah and West Virginia had the lowest percentages of people reporting binge drinking, each with 10.9 percent.
The researchers noted the actual amount of binge drinking may be higher because people tend to admit to drinking less than they actually do.
Solutions
Proposed strategies to tackle binge drinking include limiting the number of alcohol retailers in a given area, holding alcohol retailers responsible for harm related to the sale of alcohol to minors and increasing the price of booze.
Attention to adult binge drinking is important because adult behavior influences the behavior of children and adolescents, according to the CDC.
"Binge drinking by adults has a huge public health impact, and influences the drinking behavior of underage youth by the example it sets," said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "We need to reduce binge drinking by adults to prevent the immediate and long-term effects it has on the health of adults and youth," Hyde said.
The report is published today (Jan. 10) in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Leave a Comment:
So what else is new?
Obviously the "experts" here have never been to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans where boozed is piped in directly from Beer and Booze refineries just outside the city......or just the BSC LSU Alabama Championship Game just yesterday when they started to drink Bloody Mary's at breakfast and that aaaaaall daaaaaay loooong until after 12 midnight the same day....I think 4 drinks an hour was the minimum!
"Bloody Mary's at breakfast and that aaaaaall daaaaaay loooong until after 12 midnight the same day....I think 4 drinks an hour was the minimum!"
You simply can't drink all day unless you start in the morning! Cheers!
I got pulled over the other night after partaking in a "binge" of sorts. The cop asked where I was going at 1 in the morning? I told him I was on my way to a lecture on the physical dangers of drinking, the economic toll it takes on our lives, the tragedy drinking and driving can cause, and the great harm it causes society when people associate with loose women. The cop asked, "Who in the world would give a lecture like that at 1 in the morning?" I told him......
"My wife."
Those amounts seem low to me in terms of what i was expecting them to be in order for a person to be considered a binge drinker.
Either way, thank god all of those binge drinkers aren't smoking marijuana...just think of the carnage and death that would occur, not to mention the financial impact of all those people staying home and sitting on the couch to watch tv instead of going out and killing someone while they're drunk behind the wheel of car.
What would you call a binge? That guy in The Lost Weekend? Locking yourself in a room with a case of vodka until you wind up hallucinating? Four or five drinks in a row might not get you drunk if you're a heavy drinker, but it's still a lot.
I agree...number does seem pretty low. Seems like a study done by people unfamiliar with drinkers. They would be better served (pun!) to identify the circumstances of the drinking -- during and after, and not try and put an arbitrary number of drinks on a diverse population. "Do you drink until you lose personal control? Etc.
The guy having 6 or 7 draft beers during a Saturday football game is hardly the same as the one shooting 3 shots at a bar within 30 minutes. I would personally describe a binge drinker as someone unable to have only a few drinks socially, but as someone who can't easily stop once they start.
Looks like it's about beer thirty!
If I'm part of the 17%, am I still part of the 99%?
If you are part of the 99%, it is more likely because you are also a member of the 17%. But don't worry, as long as you have a friend in the 1%, your drinks are free!
Enjoy.
Lets call it 6 drinks, 4 times a month.
Let's say they're drinking out at the club or something. Let's assume $5 drinks.
That's $270/month just on binge drinking.
Damn. No way I could afford that.
Let's say they just buy a 6 pack and drink it, or a bottle of vodka from which they pour six standard mixed drinks. Much more affordable. Not that I advise it. Pot is much safer.
Try drinking in a rundown, shthole redneck bar. The drinks there are only $2.25 and the conversation is kind of fun...
What constitutes "one occasion"? I sometimes spend hours slowly working through a bottle of wine while relaxing at home. Does that count as a binge if I never even get more than a buzz because it's spread out over time?
5 or more drinks on one occasion ... yes, guilty as charged. Probably 5 or more times a month (usually once per weekend - sometimes twice). I DO NOT, however, get behind the wheel of a car, bike, boat, or other vehicle when I've been drinking. I know that doesn't make the drinking "right", but it sure as hell prevents it from being more "wrong" ... or, God forbid, tragic ...
be aware that if you keep this up your health will suffer.
Have you ever watched "Moonshiners" - now there's a drinker for ya (Pickle)
I thought his nickname was Tickle? But yes, he does come off as quite the alcoholic. I don't really feel like more than 5-10 minutes of all the air time he had involved him being sober b/c If he wasn't drinking that shine straight up he had a beer in his hand.
*hic* ahhheha whta? Nahh man Imm not a bingee dreanker! *hic*
And Marijuana is the class A drug....geesh
I'm from Wisconsin and Yes I'm a binge drinker a few times per month but drink on average 5 days a week. It's part of our culture in this state. As such you should also know Wisconsin has one of the lowest amounts of CardioVascular Disease, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Stroke per capita in comparison to other states. These Neo-Prohibitionists will only be happy when they can prohibit all alcohol again. Remember think critically.
Does EVERYONE in Wisconsin drink like you do, elfnmajic? Despite the Scandavian heritage, I kind of doubt it. Nobody is trying to prohibit all alcohol since we tried it once and it didn't work. Alcohol in these amounts is a POISON. That's why they call it "intoxication", note the derivation from "toxic."
Pretty scary how many are on the road trying to kill us. No humor in that.
I am surprised at how high the numbers are.
And I'm embarrassed that Kentucky, where I live, is apparently where the binge drinkers consume the most per episode of binge drinking on average.
Occupy the Taverns! I AM THE 17%
It is taxed in Colorado and helps to raise some taxes to pay for daily needs, ie road and bridge, prayfully. Also consider that Colorado has been listed as the healthiest state in the nation.
So if Pot is so bad for you how come Colorado's citizens are so healthy?
Well, perhaps a little bit of prohibition would help. Alcohol prohibition didn't work before and pot prohibition has been a major failure,after 70+ years, billions and billions of dollars, over 20 million arrests, thousands of deaths of otherwise innocent people, but who knows, maybe if we all close our eyes and pretend real hard...
"Drinking too much, and binge drinking, causes more than 80,000 deaths in the United States each year"
...and not a single pot related death, other than those poor souls killed by law enforcement trying to stop people from smoking pot. Now, tell me one more time why alcohol is legal and pot isn't.
With alcohol, you can literally drink yourself to death in one sitting. With pot, you can smoke all you want without risk of over dosing or death. There's a threshold with pot. No matter how much you smoke, you don't get any higher than you would from only two puffs. Anyone who denies this , simply doesn't know what they are talking about.
Yes, gb, every year some fool college students succeed in doing just that, just when they had their whole wonderful lives ahead of them. Add some pills and assuming you don't vomit, it's a very easy way to commit suicide as well. (Relatives of mine have done it.) One small inaccuracy; when pot is consumed via food, it is possible to get much "higher" but nearly everybody just goes to sleep in that case. At least you don't black out and commit violent crimes you don't remember, or wake up in a strange bed or even a strange city, wondering how you got there.
17%? Where's my grain of salt to go with that ridiculous statement?
It's right next to the bowl of limes and the Cabo silly!
5 drinks on one occasion...I weigh 250 lbs - so call me obese - but by most BAC calculators, I can have 4 drinks in one hour and one drink every hour after that and not blow more than a .05...I probably "binge drink" every time I go out and still do not get drunk
You can drink a beer every 15 minutes and still drive just fine? Do you carry a breathalyzer and a sober friend with you to the bar so he can interpret it for you? Perhaps "fat driving" should be criminalized. Puhleeze, I'm also overweight but anybody knows four or five drinks is a lot for anybody. It would be a lot for a sumo wrestler, as would the equivalent amount of sake. Please have them at home so if you pass out on the couch or floor your family members can just step around you. As the famous radio ads put it, buzzed driving IS drunk driving.
@OomYaaqub - You are such a buzz kill. And you sound like a goody-goody who is afraid to live life. Relax, Man. Live and let live...
No one on this site is telling you the adverse health effects of being overweight and never excercising (which you obviously never do). And no, 5 drinks is not really that much if consumed in the span of an entire evening.
I'm willing to bet she never went to college, Autumn..
I'm willing to bet she just never had a really, really good drunk driver take her home before.
Here's a fun one Autumn. Sing... "OomYaaquboomYaaquboom, somebody's gonna hurt someone. Before the night is through. Somebody's gonna come undone. There's nothin' we can do." - Eagles
'''''actually,
Autumn,, i am very pro pot, used reasonably. I just oppose alcohol, If used abuseively, that is, which is very easy to do.
Frightening statistic! That means that 17% of those 18 and older are perfectly willing to get themselves completely stoned!! Makes a case for what I've thought for a long time: There are way too many children--both mental and emotional children!--out there on our roads and highways sitting behind the wheel in adult bodies!
Who defined "binge" drinking? I'm a male, 6'2" and 230lbs. I can drink 5 drinks in about an hour and just feel a bit tipsy. My grandfather binged. He'd stock up on beer and drink non-stop for weeks at a time, never once getting sober.
I would probably be at the top of their list of the binge drinkers
I can rip through a case of Miller or Coors Lite during a summer night in my backyard with my equally inebriated neighbor like a champ. What would12-15 drinks in a "sitting" qualify as, lol