ROCKFORD - Women are binge drinking too much, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report out Tuesday. In so doing, these women place themselves in grave peril of a multitude of health problems.
The CDC highlights a new Vital Signs report that claims “more than 14 million U.S. women binge drink about 3 times a month, and consume an average of 6 drinks per binge.” (“Binge drinking” for women is defined as four or more drinks.) “Drinking too much,” reports the CDC, “results in about 23,000 deaths in women and girls each year and increases the chances of breast cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, and many other health problems.”
The report claims that binge drinking is especially a problem for girls and young women: “1 in 8 adult women and 1 in 5 high school girls binge drink.” Among these, white and Hispanic women and girls are more likely to drink, as are women “with household incomes of $75,000 or more.”
Among the CDC’s recommendations to reduce this drinking are such strategies as increasing alcohol taxes and maintaining existing government controls over alcohol sales. Research indicates, however, that the CDC would do better to focus on the apparent cause of female unhappiness and consequent self-medication: family breakdown.
First published by Family News and Research, www. profam.org
