Recent trends in binge drinking among adults – United States, 2001-2006

Background: Binge drinking (consuming ≥5 drinks/occasion; BD) is responsible for more than half of the 75,000 alcohol-attributable deaths in the United States annually. Reducing the prevalence of BD to 6% is one of the leading health indicators in Healthy People 2010. However, previous studies have reported that the prevalence of BD among U.S. adults has been stable and that the frequency of BD episodes is increasing.

Methods: Using 2001-2006 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we assessed national trends in BD prevalence and episodes among persons aged ≥18 years by several demographics.

Results: Overall BD prevalence decreased from 14.6% [95%CI=14.3-14.9] in 2001 to 13.9% [95%CI=13.6-14.2] in 2006. Male BD prevalence decreased from 22.5% (95%CI=22.0-23.1) in 2001 to 20.7% (95%CI=20.2-21.2) in 2006. Significant decreases occurred in men aged 18-24 years, Hispanic men, and men with incomes ≤$50,000. Female BD prevalence generally remained unchanged across the years (7.3% in 2001 to 7.4% in 2006), with the only significant decrease occurring among women aged 18-20 years. The estimated total number of BD episodes among U.S. adults decreased slightly from 1.5 billion in 2001 to 1.4 billion in 2006. Men accounted for 81.3% and 73.5% of the episodes in 2001 and 2006, respectively.

Conclusion: Despite modest decreases over the past six years, BD remains a common risk behavior among U.S. adults. It seems unlikely that any health goal to reduce adult BD will be met. Evidence-based strategies to prevent BD (e.g., increasing alcohol excise taxes) should be widely adopted.