Binge Drinking: Is it a problem????
By: Ashley Carver
What is Binge Drinking???
Binge drinking can be defined as consuming 5 or more alcoholic beverages in a single setting such as at a party on a college campus; binge drinking for females is having 4 or more alcoholic beverages instead of 5.
Binge drinking has it's risk factors just like any disease that you hear of in our society. Just to name a few contributors, prevalence or occurrence of binge drinking during high school, whether or not one was of the legal drinking age, and laws enforcing punishment of underage drinking or policies that prevent the purchase of alcohol in excess.
What was found
It was found that colleges that were located in states where they had a comprehensive set of state and or community alcohol control policies were least likely to have a lot of binge drinking to occur (TF,TS,RD,&H, 2005).
It was also found that the presence of stronger and more strict alcohol control policies was protective against binge drinking (TF, TS, RD,&H,2005).
Closing
Like previously mentioned, the data that was found may be old but I believe that the findings are still related to the problem of binge drinking in college that we have today. I actually believe that the problem has gotten worse over the years. For example, Lenoir-Rhyne is a campus where alcohol is allowed on campus and drinking goes on very often both legally and illegally. Something that I think needs to be done is more strict laws, policies, and rules statewide in regards to the purchase of alcohol such as higher tax rates to possibly discourage the purchase of alcohol in excess but also policies that punish the illegal purchase and consumption of alcohol.
The dangers that come with binge drinking:
Binge drinking can lead to many things that one would most likely regret doing such as rape, unintended pregnancy, and motor vehicle accidents. Binge drinking can also lead to alcohol poisoning and alcohol dependency and other health issues.
Survey done in 2000......
A survey was published during the year of 2000 that combined data that was found related to college binge drinking between the years of 1999 and 2000. The main question that was asked during the surveys was "Considering all the alcoholic beverages, how many times during the past 30 days have you had more than five drinks during a single setting?" Data was also analyzed based on the location of where college students went to high school and what policies the state had implemented restricting purchases of alcohol in excess and the promotion of alcohol ( TF,TS,RD,& H, 2005) .
Sources
Nelson, T., Naimi, T., Brewer, R., & Wechsler, H. (2005). The state sets the rate: the relationship among state-specific college binge drinking, state binge drinking rates, and selected state alcohol control policies. American Journal Of Public Health, 95(3), 441-446. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.043810