The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined the frequency of binge drinking in relation to individuals’ perceptions of their own health, and found that binge drinkers are 13 to 23 percent more likely to report suboptimal health.

The study, which will be published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, examined 200,587 adult drinkers who participated in the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which asked participants to rate their health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor.

The researchers then estimated the prevalence of binge drinking and heavy drinking, along with the frequency of binge drinking during a 30-day period. Binge drinking was defined as four or more drinks per drinking session for women and five or more for men. They then divided the self-reports into two categories: optimal health (excellent, very good, or good) and suboptimal (fair or poor).

James Tasi, corresponding author for the study and an epidemiologist at the CDC, said that self-related health is a single question that has been used by many health surveys to measure perception of health, and is a strong predictor of eventual morbidity and mortality.

Robert D. Brewer, the CDC’s alcohol program leader, said that binge drinking is a dangerous pattern that can result in a variety of health and social problems, from potentially fatal car accidents to violence and risky sexual behavior. He added that adult binge drinkers usually have eight drinks per episode, which is far more than the four or five drinks that define binge drinking. Despite this, most binge drinkers are not dependent on alcohol.

According to Tsai, about 35 million adults reported binge drinking in 2008, and more than 40 percent reported binge drinking four or more times over a 30-day period. The new study found that frequent binge drinkers are significantly more likely to perceive their health as suboptimal.

Brewer said these results are important because people who report lower self-related health are more at risk for being hospitalized than those who report higher self-related health. In addition, the study adds to the scientific evidence that binge drinking is dangerous and can lead to hospitalization and death.

Tsai added that these results underscore the importance of screening for problematic drinking in healthcare settings.

Source: Science Daily, Binge Drinkers Report Sub-Optimal Health Status More Often Than Non-Binge Drinkers, June 7, 2010. 

“There is an increasing demand on our service from children aged nine and up—it’s a growing problem,” The Sun quoted Hall as saying. “At one stage this year we were treating six children under the age of 10.”

“All the evidence shows that children are starting to drink earlier, they are drinking more and the results are getting worse—w e now have kids dying of liver failure,” Hall added. He believes parents drinking in front of their kids may be setting a bad example.

“Drinking used to be done in pubs but now you get a lot more people drinking wine at home. When children see drunkenness, the whole attitude of that child changes dramatically.”

Counselor Francesca Martin, who works with children and families affected by alcoholism, explained why many kids start drinking. “They have a lot of problems one way or the other. A lot of them would admit to feeling quite vulnerable when they are drunk. Sometimes it can be about sex. They can’t remember what happened the night before, where they have been and who they have been with.”
 

A study conducted by researchers from the Université de Montréal and the University of Western Ontario showed that frequent alcohol consumption can lead to binge drinking among all age groups and genders. The study also found that infrequent drinkers rarely exceed more than two servings when they do drink. "The relationship between drinking frequency and consumption per occasion might be both cultural and biological," says study co-author Andrée Demers, a sociology professor at Université de Montréal and director of the Research Group on the Social Aspects of Health and Prevention.

“Regular drinking builds up tolerance, therefore daily drinkers will need more than their usual drink or two to make a difference with everyday life and that festive feeling,” said Catherine Paradis, lead author and PhD candidate at Université de Montréal. "That fosters drinking beyond healthy limits—at least sporadically and perhaps weekly—to five drinks or more per occasion. And five units is above the recommended limits of healthy drinking."

The investigation defined one drink as 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of liquor, 12 ounces of beer, or 3 ounces of port, sherry, or vermouth.

Close to 11,000 respondents—5,743 women and 4,723 men—were asked how often they usually have an alcoholic drink and how often they usually have five drinks or more on one occasion. According to health organizations in Canada, women should never consume more than four drinks per occasion.

"There is no clear and universal understanding of what is moderate drinking—its meaning varies between cultures and within cultures according to gender, age, socio-economic status and people’s self-reported tolerance," says Paradis. "Since regular drinking could increase alcohol abuse, Canadian drinking guidelines should take this aspect of the drinking pattern into account."