CDC: One-in-six adults binge drink weekly
Source: Mass Live
April 9, 2018
Some 37 million U.S. adults binge drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The American Journal of Preventative Medicine study is being called a “first-of-its-kind.” Four of its five authors work for the CDC’s population health division with the fifth affiliated with Boston Medical Center.
The study, similar to previous CDC studies, analyzed data on self-reported binge drinking within a 30-day period from the CDC’s 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
It found that 37 million, or 1 in 6, adults binge drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 grams percent or above. This is said to happen when men consume 5 or more drinks or women consume 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours.
According to the report, U.S. adults consumed more than 17 billion binge drinks in 2015, or about 470 binge drinks per binge drinker.
“This study shows that binge drinkers are consuming a huge number of drinks per year, greatly increasing their chances of harming themselves and others,” said Dr. Robert Brewer, study co-author and lead researcher in CDC’s alcohol program, in a statement.
“The findings also show the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to prevent binge drinking, focusing on reducing both the number of times people binge drink and the amount they drink when they binge.”
Binge drinking is considered a serious, but preventable health problem.
According to the CDC, most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent.
Annually, binge drinking is said to be responsible for more than half of the 88,000 alcohol-attributable deaths and three-quarters of the $249 billion in economic costs associated with excessive drinking in the United States.
Other highlights from the report:
While the prevalence of binge drinking was more common among young adults ages 18-34 years, more than half of the binge drinks consumed each year were by adults ages 35 years and older.
About 4 in 5 total binge drinks were consumed by men.
Binge drinkers with lower household incomes (less than $25,000 a year) and lower educational levels (less than high school) consumed substantially more binge drinks per year than those with higher incomes and educational levels.
Binge drinkers consumed the most alcohol in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Hawaii, and the least in Washington, DC; New Jersey, New York, and Washington State.