Rich, educated, tech-savvy binge drinkers

Affluent, highly educated and tech-savvy young adults are more likely to engage in binge drinking than many of their peers who are older, poorer and less educated, a new study suggests.

A cluster identified as “Cyber Millennials” – well-educated, tech-savvy individuals aged 25 to 44 with a median income of more than US$79,000 – was most likely to binge drink, according to findings that will be published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

They live in urban fringe areas on the West Coast and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States, the study said.

While Cyber Millennials led the pack in risky levels of alcohol consumption, their other lifestyle habits ranked them among the most health-conscious segments of the population, and they had a lower-than-average smoking rate.

“They own bicycles, they buy organic foods, and they’re extremely health-conscious, but they engage in this rather health-destructive behaviour of binge drinking at least twice a month, and that’s fairly ironic from our perspective,” said study co-author Dr. Howard Moss, associate director for clinical and translational research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Research co-authored by the U.S.-based institute examined results of an annual phone survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control linked to 2004 census-tracked information about risky health practices of American citizens.

The CDC information was merged with widespread data collected from a marketing research firm, including household financial data and music preferences. From that, researchers identified 10 market segments or “clusters” most likely to take part in high-risk drinking.

The researchers found that 12.4 per cent of Cyber Millennials – more than 314,000 people – reported having five or more drinks on one occasion at least twice over the course of 30 days – which was double the U.S national average (6.1. per cent).

What’s more, half of the 10 clusters comprised young adults.

“When one thinks of heavy drinkers, at least in the United States, we typically think of 40-something males that have martinis at lunchtime and go home and relax with a few shots … so we were surprised about the age of some of the groups,” said Moss.