Binge drinking defined as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks at one time is a dangerous activity that can take a toll on anyone s health. And, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed in a new report, it is an activity that almost 14 million American women indulge in about three times a month.
The CDC s report, published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was based on survey data collected in 2011. The study revealed that U.S. women aged 18 to 24 were most likely to binge drink, accounting for 24 percent of all female binge drinkers. The vice is most common in white women living in households making $75,000 or more annually. High school-aged girls were also likely to binge drink, with approximately 45 percent of high school freshmen girls admitting to the practice, which gradually increased to about 62 percent of high school senior girls.
CDC director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, says that although the numbers are disturbing, there are effective steps that people can take to stop young adults from binge drinking. Parents can prevent youth from beginning and continuing to drink in a harmful pattern; states and communities have guidelines that are effective at reducing binge drinking; and doctors and other healthcare professionals can ask patients about their drinking, because even a brief counseling session can make a big difference in helping prevent progression to binge drinking, Frieden says.
As far as states and community guidelines to reduce binge drinking, I m not sure to what Dr. Frieden was referring, nor just how effective they are, ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross states. But doctors definitely need to play a greater role and ask their patients about drinking habits, and educate them about the harmful effects of binge drinking.