Women and Girls Binge Drinking Increases

Native News Network Staff in Native Health. Discussion »

ATLANTA – Binge drinking is not just a guy problem. A look at national survey data finds women also drink like this.

Fourteen million US adult women, or one in eight, report binge drinking.

Women Too

“Women who binge drink tend to do so frequently – about three times a month – and in large amounts,”

commented Dafna Kanny of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dafna Kanny.

American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest rates of binge drinking, although this problem is more common among men than women. American Indians and Alaska Natives also have high rates of drunk driving and alcohol-related fatal crashes.

For women, heavy drinking is consuming an average of more than one drink per day. Binge drinking is consuming four or more drinks on a single occasion, generally within two hours. Both heavy and/or binge drinking can lead to alcohol problems, including alcoholism. Binge drinking can raise a woman's risk of being hurt or raped.

Binge drinking means men drinking 5 or more alcoholic drinks within a short period of time or women drinking 4 or more drinks within a short period of time.

New estimates show that binge drinking is a bigger problem than previously thought. More than 38 million US adults binge drink, about four times a month, and the largest number of drinks per binge is on average eight.

This behavior greatly increases the chances of getting hurt or hurting others due to car crashes, violence, and suicide. Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes 80,000 deaths in the US each year and, in 2006 cost the economy $223.5 billion.

Binge drinking is a problem in all states, even in states with fewer binge drinkers, because they are bingeing more often and in larger amounts.

posted January 23, 2013 6:00 am est