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Drinking Greeks

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

What happens on Greek Row?

One look at fraternities and sororities sees a lot of drinking and students getting hurt. Mary Claire O'Brien of Wake Forest University School of Medicine analyzed Web surveys from more than 10,600 students in 10 North Carolina universities. Her work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

O'Brien says members and pledges were twice as likely as other students to get drunk weekly. Greeks who got drunk were much more likely than non-Greeks to be injured.

O'Brien says Greek life can be good � and can produce leaders. But for Greeks and non-Greeks:

"The bottom line is, don't get drunk. Don't hang out with anyone who gets drunk. If you're dizzy, or nauseated, or unsteady, you're done. You've had too much." (seven seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June 15, 2006

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