All Posts Tagged With: "alcoholism"
Alcohol-related deaths among U.S. students on the rise
Rates of binge drinking and drinking-and-driving also up
New research is showing that alcohol-related deaths among U.S. university students have been on the rise over the past decade, according to an article in the July supplement of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
For students between 18 and 24 years old, the number of drinking-related accidental deaths increased from 1,440 in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005. The stats were compiled by researchers at the American National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, using figures from government databases and national surveys on alcohol consumption.
Simultaneously, the proportion of students who reported recent binge drinking rose from 42 to 45 percent, while the proportion who admitted to drinking and driving in the past increased from 26.5 to 29 percent.
“The fact that we’re not making progress is very concerning,” said Ralph Hingson, lead researcher and director of the institute’s epidemiology and prevention research department. “The irony is that during this same time period, our knowledge of what works as far as intervention in this age group has increased.”
In an effort to fight alcohol problems in student populations, between 2004 and 2005, Hingson and his group selected 15 universities with serious student-drinking issues to work with the agency in an effort to develop new program. The resulting strategies ranged from counseling for students with drinking problems to projects involving the local community and law enforcement.
However, Hingson maintains that legislation can also have an impact on student deaths. Although rates of drinking and driving went up between 1998 and 2005, the trend started to reverse during that time period. In 2002, about 31 per cent of students drove under the influence, while in 2005 that number ent down to 29 per cent. Hingson says this can be correlated with the fact that, by 2005, all U.S. states had made it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of .08 per cent or higher.
Rich, educated, tech-savvy binge drinkers
“Cyber Millennials” are more likely to consume risky amounts of alcohol
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.
