US women outdo men in binge drinking now, more than ever in history, says top doctor

It is official. For the first time in human history, American women have overtaken men in binge drinking, according to a top US government doctor. Dr George Koop, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) made the revelation saying the trend had been spotted amongst college children.

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“In 2021, there has been an uptick, particularly among women. Now it turns out on college campuses women are actually binge drinking more than men, for the first time in history,” said Koob while talking to the Washington Examiner.

When quizzed what was the reason behind such an uptick, Biden's alcohol czar attributed it to the pent-up demand.

"It's what we call the alcohol deprivation effect. People tend to really rebound in drinking after a period of not drinking."

Binge drinking is when a woman consumes four drinks or more in a single evening. As for men, it is considered a binge drinking session when five drinks or more areconsumed. Several studies have reported that women face higher health risks when drinking excessively.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is not safe for women to be drinking more than one standard alcoholic drink a day. A standard alcoholic beverage can be a pint of beer or one glass of wine or one shot of any liquor.

“When you go past a standard drink, you really are getting to the point where alcohol ultimately becomes a toxin. You can easily overdose," said Koob.

According to NIAAA, the increase in binge drinking after the pandemic presents an anomaly for the researchers. At the beginning of the millennial, around 38 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men reported binge drinking.

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However, by 2019, the number plummeted and only 11.8 per cent of women were binge drinking while 10.4 per cent of men were doing the same.

Koopadded that while overall drinking was down in the pandemic, alcohol-related deaths had shot up by 25 per cent for the general population. But with people returning to their ordinary lives, travelling and partying — the numbers were steadily rising.

(With inputs from agencies)

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