Binge Drinking
The rate of binge alcohol use was lowest among Asians (12.7 percent). Rates for other racial/ethnic groups were 20.3 percent for blacks, 20.8 percent for persons reporting two or more races, 23.4 percent for whites, 23.7 percent for Hispanics, 25.7 percent for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, and 32.8 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives.


Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2005, Asians had the lowest rate of past month alcohol use. Only 7.0 percent of Asian youths were current drinkers, while 11.6 percent of blacks, 12.2 percent of American Indians or Alaska Natives, 13.0 percent of those reporting two or more races, 16.7 percent of Hispanics, and 18.5 percent of white youths were current drinkers.

Binge drinking is generally defined as having 5 or more drinks on one occasion, meaning in a row or within a short period of time (Naimi, 2003). However, among women, binge drinking is often defined as having 4 or more drinks on one occasion (NIAAA, 2004) (Wechsler, 1998). This lower cut-point is used for women because women are generally of smaller stature than men, and absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men.

About 1 in 3 adult drinkers in the United States report past-month binge drinking, and this ratio has changed very little since the mid-1980s (Serdula, 2004).

In 2001, there were approximately 1.5 billion episodes of binge drinking in the U.S. Binge drinking rates were highest among those aged 18 to 25 years; however, 70% of binge drinking episodes occurred among those aged 26 years and older (Naimi, 2003).

Binge drinkers were 14 times more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than non-binge drinkers (Naimi, 2003).

Binge drinking is associated with a number of adverse health effects, including unintentional injuries (e.g., motor vehicle crashes, falls, burns, drownings, and hypothermia); violence (homicide, suicide, child abuse, domestic violence); sudden infant death syndrome; alcohol poisoning; hypertension; myocardial infarction; gastritis; pancreatitis; sexually transmitted diseases; meningitis; and poor control of diabetes (Naimi, 2003).
.