Binge Drinking Is An Under-Recognized Problem Among Women and Girls, CDC Says

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Story Created: Jan 8, 2013 at 11:38 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jan 8, 2013 at 11:38 AM PDT

(CDC news release) Binge drinking is a dangerous behavior that can lead to tragic circumstances.  It’s not often recognized as a women’s health problem but nearly 14 million U.S. women binge drink about three times a month, and consume an average of six drinks per binge, according to a Vital Signs report released today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a news release issued Tuesday:

The report highlights how binge drinking puts women at increased risk for many health problems such as breast cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, heart disease, and unintended pregnancy. Pregnant women who binge drink expose a developing baby to high levels of alcohol, which can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and sudden infant death syndrome.

In addition, the report finds that about 1 in 8 women and 1 in 5 high school girls report binge drinking. Binge drinking was most common among women aged 18-34 and high school girls, whites and Hispanics, and women with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Half of all high school girls who drink alcohol report binge drinking.

Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks on an occasion for women and girls. Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes about 23,000 deaths among women and girls in the United States each year

“Binge drinking causes many health problems, and there are proven ways to prevent excessive drinking,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Effective community measures can support women and girls in making wise choices about whether to drink or how much to drink if they do.”

CDC scientists looked at the drinking behavior of approximately 278,000 U.S. women aged 18 and older for the past 30 days through data collected from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and for approximately 7,500 U.S. high school girls from the 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Read the entire CDC news release HERE.