A report released today shows that the majority of high school students who drink alcohol also binge drink.
Binge drinking is defined as having four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men over a couple of hours.
More than 1 in 4 high school students and adults ages 18 to 34 binged during the last month, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. The report also said levels of binge drinking have not declined over the last 15 years.
“Alarmingly, almost 1 in 3 adults and 2 in 3 high school students who drink alcohol also binge drink, which usually leads to intoxication,” said Dr. Robert Brewer, alcohol program leader at CDC and one of the authors of the report. “Although binge drinkers are not alcohol-dependent or alcoholics, they often engage in this high risk behavior without realizing the health and social problems of their drinking. States and communities need to consider further strategies to create an environment that discourages binge drinking.”