preview

The Increase Of Binge Drinking Essay

Decent Essays

Nationwide, binge drinking has not received the same awareness as other leading health risks. Binge drinking is the consumption of “four or more alcoholic drinks…for women...and five or more drinks…for men” per occasion(s) within a month (Kanny, Liu, Brewer & Lu, 2013, p. 77). According to data collected by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in both 2010 and 2011, the overall national prevalence of binge drinking was 17.1% and 18.4%, respectively (Kanny, Liu, Brewer & Garvin, 2012, p. 15; Kanny et al., 2013, p. 78). Both years listed the Midwest as an area with both the highest age-adjusted prevalence of adult binge drinking and the highest intensity (the amount of drinks per occasion within the past month) of binge drinking (Kanny et al., 2012, p. 16; Kanny et al., 2013, p. 78). As a state in the Midwest, Illinois should make efforts to decrease the prevalence of binge drinking in the state because nationwide binge drinking has shown to 1) cost the United States billions of dollars annually from lost productivity, health care, and crime, 2) increase a person’s risk for variety of health problems from diseases to injuries, and 3) account for more than 50% of the annual average deaths due to excessive drinking. From a cost perspective, binge drinking is an exorbitant for the country. Binge drinking is a type of excessive drinking - defined as binge drinking with the inclusion of heavy drinking, all underage drinking and all drinking by pregnant

Get Access