With a son off to first year university I join the scads of parents who worry about the issues that come with college life. Among those is binge drinking. Knowing that education is the best way to make an informed decision I armed myself with a summary of the latest research before sitting down with my son and his friends. So is there cause for worry?
Research has found substantial reductions in binge drinking when the drinking age is set at 21 - with one exception: college students. The rates of binge drinking in male college kids remain unchanged- no better and the rates in female college kids have increased. Yes- binge drinking remains a problem on college campuses.
Data gathered between 1979 and 2006 by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from more than 500,000 subjects, found that overall, binge drinking is less common than it once was but young men account for the majority of binge drinkers. However, at the same time, the 'gender gap' between male and female drinkers has been closing. Women are drinking more, and their rates of binge drinking have risen over the last 30 years.
Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks on a given occasion. In 2006, the last year for which the data were analyzed, more than half of college-age males, and almost 40 percent of college-age females reported binge drinking.
In women ages 15 to 20 on the other hand, binge drinking was statistically unchanged since 1979. For women 21 to 23, binge drinking rose by about 40 percent.
The biggest surprises involved differences between college students and men and women of the same age not enrolled in college. Binge drinking declined in young men, UNLESS they were in college. It was up slightly in young women, but significantly higher in college women.
Researchers have speculated that because colleges are made up of young, mostly unmarried people -- with no parental control and no spouse to check in with -- they may be more likely to drink to excess than people of the same age who live with their parents or have a spouse. Plus, most have easy access to alcohol because at least some of their peers are 21 or older.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) notes that there are 1,700 alcohol-related deaths a year among college students. NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern that brings a person's blood alcohol content (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. To reach this BAC, men must consume five or more drinks and women must consume four or more drinks in about two hours. The binge drinking pattern for college students is typically to not drink during the week and consume numerous drinks at once on the weekend.
What makes college binge drinking more risky than adult drinking is the pattern.
Research shows males, members of fraternities and sororities, and athletes are more likely to binge drink.
This pattern of binge drinking makes alcohol consumption riskier and causes problems such as lower grade point averages, vandalism and an increase in violent behavior, including rape.
In addition binge drinking has long term consequences. Binge drinking in college can lead to heart disease later in life. Regularly consuming multiple drinks in a short window of time can cause immediate changes in circulation that increase an otherwise healthy young adult's risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Prior studies have found that binge drinking among adults age 40 to 60 years old is associated with an increase in risk for stroke, sudden cardiac death and heart attack, but the effect on younger adults has not been studied.
Researchers looked at two groups of healthy nonsmoking college students: those who had a history of binge drinking and those who abstained from alcohol. Binge drinking was defined as consuming five or more standard size drinks (12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80 proof spirits or 8-9 ounces of malt liquor) in a two-hour period for males and four or more standard size drinks in a two-hour period for females. On average, the students who binge drink had six such episodes each month over four years. Abstainers were defined as having consumed no more than five drinks in the prior year.
Students were also questioned about their medical history, diet, history of family alcohol abuse and frequency of binge drinking.
The study found that the binge drinkers had impaired function in the two main cell types that control blood flow. These vascular changes were equivalent to impairment found in individuals with a lifetime history of daily heavy alcohol consumption and can be a precursor for developing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and other cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.
And if that isn't enough -binge drinking leads to neurocognitive deficits among college students
A new study has found that binge drinking, common among college students, is associated with impaired decision making.
The long-term neurocognitive effects of binge drinking during young adulthood are unclear.
Researchers examined 200 participants in an ongoing student-health study at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The study found that stable high-binge drinking, starting at a pre-college age, is related to diminished decision-making abilities. The study showed that even in a group of "healthy" college students who are not alcoholics, heavy alcohol use is related to diminished decision making abilities or disadvantageous cognitive functions.
Adolescence appears to be a time of sensitivity to the effects of alcohol on the brain. For these reasons, parents and clinicians alike need to have these conversations before your student departs for school!
