Centers For Disease Control: During Binges, U.S. Adults Have 17 Billion Drinks a Year
By Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
September 17, 2018
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION — U.S. adults consumed more than 17 billion binge drinks in 2015, or about 470 binge drinks per binge drinker, according to a first-of-its-kind study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
CDC researchers found that 1 in 6, or 37 million, adults binge drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours.
“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 study co-author Robert Brewer, M.D., M.S.P.H., lead researcher in CDC’s alcohol program.
“The findings also show the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to preventing binge drinking, focusing on reducing both the number of times people binge drink and the amount they drink when they binge.”
For this report, CDC scientists analyzed data on self-reported binge drinking during the past 30 days from CDC’s 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
Total annual binge drinks were calculated by multiplying the estimated total number of binge drinking episodes among binge drinkers by the average largest number of drinks consumed per episode and was assessed by age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, household income, and state.