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Study finds binge drinkers average nine drinks at a time

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9:01 PM Sunday, January 22, 2012

By Hannah Poturalski

Staff Writer

College-age drinkers average nine drinks when they get drunk and a quarter of those surveyed said they binged on alcohol at least once a month.

The statistics are part of a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighting the dangers of binge drinking, which usually means four to five drinks at a time.

“I know this sounds astounding, but I think the numbers we’re reporting are really an underestimate,” said Dr. Robert Brewer, who leads the alcohol program at the CDC.

Overall, about 1 in 6 of the 450,000 U.S. adults surveyed said they binged on alcohol at least once in the previous month, though it was more than 1 in 4 for those ages 18 to 34.

“In college, five drinks is not very much at all; that’s like pre-gaming,” said Miami University senior Spencer Shadel. “At Miami, you have to be able to keep up drinking-wise, and five drinks is not going to do that.”

Area universities have attempted to curb dangerous drinking for years, by offering programming and even mandating alcohol-related courses before the student steps onto campus.

For the past eight years, incoming students at Miami are required to complete a three-hour AlcoholEdu course. The course evaluates the student’s drinking behaviors and knowledge of alcohol issues such as blood alcohol content.

Leslie Haxby McNeill, assistant director of Miami’s Office of Student Wellness, said the university’s alcohol education efforts use evidence-based research and are measured for effectiveness.

“It showed good results and accomplished what we wanted,” McNeill said of AlcoholEdu. “The overwhelming response was (students) found it informative and helpful.”

McNeill said students are evaluated after the online course to assess knowledge gain and intended behaviors.

Shadel said when he took AlcoholEdu as an incoming first-year it was hard for him to take the course seriously, mainly because of the interface and language used.

“It was exaggerated to the point where it seemed jocular,” Shadel said. “It was too dramatic to take serious.”

Shadel, 21, said he did appreciate some of its educational aspects such as learning the state laws for sobriety and sexual consent. Shadel said he doesn’t think AlcoholEdu deters people from drinking.

Regan Johnson, wellness center program director at University of Cincinnati, said the university doesn’t mandate programs for incoming students.

“It’s because of cost, some are extremely expensive,” Johnson said. “Having no education, I think that hinders our students.”

Johnson said the university may offer AlcoholEdu next year, which costs $20,000 a year.

Johnson said she does teach a 1.5-hour class for students caught violating the alcohol policy. During the 2010-11 school year, 142 students took the course; during 2009-10, 88 students took the class, Johnson said.

“If you use alcohol, the class will show how to do it responsibly, but I do show the consequences,” Johnson said. “I treat them like adults, even if they are under 21.”

At Miami, students with alcohol violations are required to complete one of three workshops — a two-hour class for first-time, “non-disruptive” offenses, a four-hour class for multiple alcohol offenses, or a four-hour class for alcohol and drug offenses, said McNeill, also an instructor.

In an average year between 400 and 600 students complete the workshops at Miami, McNeill said.

“They don’t often recognize how high the penalties are; you risk finishing your education at Miami,” McNeill said.

McNeill said there are multiple awareness campaigns throughout the year in dining and residence halls. Most recently, Miami was one of six pilot schools with the Drug-Free Action Alliance program “Buzzkill: Serve Under 21 and the Party’s Over,” on the consequences of hosting underage drinking parties.

“Younger people are drinking in more high-risk ways than 15 years ago,” McNeill said. “As they move into other points of their career we target higher-risk situations such as sororities and fraternities or athletic teams.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

By the numbers

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