Binge Drinking; Who Does It?

What is binge drinking? The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that binge drinking among full-time college students as well as young adults not enrolled in college continues to be a significant problem. Binge alcohol drinking has been defined differently. A common definition, however, is drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion, which means at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other on at least 1 day in the past 30 days.

Studies show that younger adults are more likely than older adults to engage in heavy episodic drinking. The dangers of excessive alcohol use or should we say misuse, include increased involvement in fatal car crashes, sexual offense, unprotected sexuality, inclemency, as well as increased risk of physical and psychological health problems.

Studies conducted in the 1990s suggest that excessive drinking and driving under the influence of alcohol are more prevalent among college students than among non-students.

So what do we know about college age students and other younger adults? Following are the primary findings from the 2002 report confirming the consecutive trend of alcohol abuse in college students. This report also showed the prevalence of alcohol abuse in non-students, a retreat from previous studies. nn* Drinking on a daily basis was substantially less common than both heavy and binge drinking, reported by less than 2 percent of full-time students and 3 percent of non-students.nn* Heavy drinking rates peaked at age 21 for full-time students as well as non-students. nn* Binge drinking rates peaked at age 21 both for full-time students and non-students.nn* More than 1 in 10 younger adults aged 18 to 24 were heavy alcohol drinkers, and almost 2 in 5 were binge drinkers.nn* The full-time students in this study aged 18 to 21 had higher rates of binge drinking than non-students.

The survey also studied the beliefs toward alcohol and safety connected with the students practice of binge drinking. In most cases, those surveyed saw no risk in weekly binge drinking. However, at least 25 percent of young adults between 18 and 24 perceived a great risk in weekly binge drinking. Overall, full-time college students were less likely to feel great risk in weekly binge drinking, and differences were statistically significant for those aged 19, 20, and 21.
On the behavior side of this survey, the students were more likely to use seat belts while driving. The survey also shows that non-students at each age were less likely than full-time students to drive while under the influence of alcohol. This difference, however, was not statistically significant among 24 year olds.

When a person comes into a habit of binge drinking, something must be done and the earlier proper treatment can be started the better. Studies have documented that people who practice this drinking habit are more likely to develop depression later in life than the average of the entire population. So, the best advice I can give to people who are practicing this habit is to seek help and get proper alcoholism treatment, thus getting a healthy and bright future.