| HEALTH STATUS - Protective and Risk Factors |
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According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), alcohol misuse in the U.S. is quite common among persons of all ages. In 2000, 13.5 percent of females and 28.3 percent of males aged 12 and older reported binge drinking in the past month, defined as five or more drinks on the same occasion at least once in the month prior to the survey. This same survey found that nearly 3 percent of females and 9 percent of males 12 years and older reported drinking heavily in the past month, defined as having five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days within the month prior to the survey.
Overall, alcohol misuse appears higher among college-aged women than among their younger and older counterparts. More than a quarter of women 18-25 years old in 2000 reported binge drinking in the past month, and as many as 7.4 percent of women aged 18-25 were found to drink heavily. This compares to approximately 10 percent of female teenagers and females 26 years and over who reported binge drinking. For all levels of alcohol consumption, use declined significantly after age 25.
Among women aged 15-44 who were not pregnant, White women were more likely be binge drinkers (22.1 percent) compared to Hispanic (16.1 percent) and Black (15.6 percent) women. However, Black pregnant women were four times as likely as Hispanic pregnant women to binge drink, while White pregnant women were nearly three times as likely to binge drink as Hispanic pregnant women. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy contributes to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), infant low birth weight, and developmental delays in children.
