Alcohol-Related Injuries and Death

Statistics on Binge Drinking and Heavy Drinking

 

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) recently published a detailed infographic regarding the harms of excessive drinking in the country. According to their research using the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Alcohol Program, “Excessive drinking is one of the biggest, most detrimental issues to public health in the United States.”

Studies show that in 2014, nearly twenty-five percent of people ages 18 years and older reported “regular binge drinking.” Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks per occasion for men and four or more drinks per occasion for women. Additionally, 6.7 percent of adults reported “regular heavy drinking.” Heavy drinking is defined as fifteen or more drinks per week for men and eight or more drinks per week for women.

Underage drinking is also a huge problem in the United States. According to the infographic provided by UIC, underage drinking results in 4,300 deaths annually in the United States. In 2010, there were over 189,000 emergency department visits related to alcohol for underage drinkers. Binge drinking is pervasive among young adults, with 90 percent of alcohol being “consumed by binge drinkers.”


The CDC has listed several Public Health Prevention Strategies for dealing with excessive alcohol consumption. Some of the recommendations include increasing taxes on alcohol, limiting the hours and days when alcohol can be sold, and regulating “alcohol outlet density.”


View the full infographic and read more from the University of Illinois Chicago’s article “
Public Health Surveillance and Alcohol-Related Injuries.”