Americans Are Binge Drinking More, Especially Women

The binge drinking rates for women rose almost 36 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to a study published this month in the American Journal of Public Health. Men's binge drinking rates rose 23 percent over the same time period, and men are still more likely to binge drink overall.

“It seems like women are trying to catch up to the men in binge drinking,” Ali Mokdad, a lead author of the study, told Kaiser Health News. “It’s really, really scary.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, binge drinking is consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours. The CDC considers excessive drinking to be 15 or more drinks per week for a man and 8 or more drinks per week for a woman.

Excessive alcohol consumption is a costly public health problem. Alcohol causes 88,000 deaths and costs the United States some $224 billion each year. The CDC estimates that about 38 million Americans drink too much, and the American Journal of Public Health study reported a 17.2 percent increase in heavy drinking among Americans since 2005.

Meanwhile, the rate of drinkers in the United States has remained steady since 2002, at about 56 percent overall.

Regionally, New England, the Midwest and the West had higher rates of alcohol consumption than other areas of the country (check out this handy map of alcohol consumption by county). Wealthy and educated individuals are also more likely to drink. As as The Huffington Post reported in 2012, high-income households making more than $75,000 per year are more likely to binge drink than other socioeconomic groups.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.