Binge Drinking (%)
Excessive alcohol use is dangerous to a woman’s health. Long-term heavy drinking increases the risks for high blood pressure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases as well as certain forms of cancer and liver disorders.1 While chronic alcohol use is a known health problem, binge drinking (for women, four or more drinks on at least one occasion) is also a hazardous form of alcohol abuse. Besides being associated with the aforementioned health problems, binge drinking also increases the risk of unintentional/intentional injuries and sexually transmitted diseases/infections.2
What percentage of women have had five or more drinks on at least one occasion during the past month?
The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing the percentage of adults who engage in binge drinking to six percent or less (when applied to women) [Healthy People 2010 Objective 26-11c].
| State | State Overall Data | State Grade | State Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama 2 | 5.8 | S | 5 |
| Alaska 2 | 12.4 | F | 43 |
| Arizona 2 | 9.2 | U | 16 |
| Arkansas 2 | 6.5 | S- | 6 |
| California 2 | 10.3 | U | 22 |
| Colorado 2 | 10.6 | F | 24 |
| Connecticut 2 | 13.2 | F | 47 |
| Delaware 2 | 12.4 | F | 43 |
| District of Columbia 2 | 14.5 | F | 48 |
| Florida 2 | 9.8 | U | 21 |
| Georgia 2 | 6.8 | S- | 7 |
| Hawaii 2 | 10.6 | F | 24 |
| Idaho 2 | 8.2 | S- | 14 |
| Illinois 2 | 11.8 | F | 39 |
| Indiana 2 | 9.3 | U | 17 |
| Iowa 2 | 12.0 | F | 40 |
| Kansas 2 | 9.3 | U | 17 |
| Kentucky 2 | 7.0 | S- | 8 |
| Louisiana 2 | 9.4 | U | 19 |
| Maine 2 | 10.6 | F | 24 |
| Maryland 2 | 9.6 | U | 20 |
| Massachusetts 2 | 13.0 | F | 45 |
| Michigan 2 | 10.8 | F | 27 |
| Minnesota 2 | 15.2 | F | 49 |
| Mississippi 2 | 5.5 | S | 3 |
| Missouri 2 | 12.3 | F | 42 |
| Montana 2 | 11.3 | F | 35 |
| Nebraska 2 | 11.0 | F | 29 |
| Nevada 2 | 11.1 | F | 31 |
| New Hampshire 2 | 11.6 | F | 38 |
| New Jersey 2 | 11.5 | F | 37 |
| New Mexico 2 | 8.0 | S- | 12 |
| New York 3 | 11.2 | F | 33 |
| North Carolina 2 | 7.7 | S- | 11 |
| North Dakota 2 | 15.5 | F | 50 |
| Ohio 2 | 10.8 | F | 27 |
| Oklahoma 2 | 7.2 | S- | 9 |
| Oregon 2 | 11.2 | F | 33 |
| Pennsylvania 2 | 11.0 | F | 29 |
| Rhode Island 2 | 11.4 | F | 36 |
| South Carolina 2 | 7.5 | S- | 10 |
| South Dakota 2 | 13.0 | F | 45 |
| Tennessee 2 | 4.7 | S | 2 |
| Texas 2 | 8.7 | U | 15 |
| Utah 2 | 5.5 | S | 3 |
| Vermont 2 | 12.1 | F | 41 |
| Virginia 2 | 8.0 | S- | 12 |
| Washington 2 | 11.1 | F | 31 |
| West Virginia 2 | 4.1 | S | 1 |
| Wisconsin 2 | 16.0 | F | 51 |
| Wyoming 2 | 10.3 | U | 22 |
Data Source: Binge Drinking (%), 2009.
EXPLANATION: This measure includes women age 18 and older in the non-institutionalized civilian population who reported having four or more drinks on at least one occasion in the last month.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data (BRFSS), 2009, available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Science, Office on Women’s Health. Quick Health Data Online, 2010, Washington, DC, 2010, available at http://www.womenshealth.gov/quickhealthdata. The national overall number and national data by age are the median of 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data for race/ethnicity and age are three-year averages from 2007-2009 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population.
Footnotes
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010, 2nd ed. (Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000), 26-32, available at http://www.healthypeople.gov/Publications/.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Quick Stats: Binge Drinking,” (Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August, 2008), available at http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/quickstats/binge_drinking.htm
