The Threshold For Binge-Drinking Is Lower Than Most Think… Do You Qualify?

The term “binge-drinking” typically conjures images of people in the 18–22 age range (general figure; if we get geographic about it, then perhaps 21–25 in the US, or 15–21 in Europe) swinging around lampposts while very drunk, very loud, minimally-clothed, and liable to waking up somewhere new and exciting that they’ve never seen before.

But in fact, while definitions do vary a bit, a prevailing and representative scientific definition is:

❝consuming four or more standard drinks on one occasion for women and five or more standard drinks on one occasion for men❞

Learn more: Heterogeneity of definitions and measurements of binge drinking in research on adolescents and young adults

Now, that paper’s looking at research on adolescents and younger adults because that’s where most of the research is, but it doesn’t mean older adults are magically immune—quite the opposite!

As we can learn from…

The Death Database

It’s not a cheery heading, is it? Doesn’t bode well.

But…

Researchers (Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomsom et al.) analyzed 129,470 adults aged 50 and older using the 2005–2014 Canadian Community Health Survey linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database and followed participants for up to 12 years (“up to”, because more than 14,740 of those participants died during the study).

Some notes:

• Prevalence: 40% of older adults who drank alcohol at least monthly reported binge-drinking at least once in the previous year, and 8% reported binge-drinking weekly or more.
• Mortality risk: there was a strong association between binge-drinking frequency and all-cause mortality, with risk increasing as binge-drinking became more frequent. After controlling for sociodemographic and health factors, those who never binge-drank had a 19% lower mortality risk than those who occasionally did.

You can read the paper in full, here: Binge drinking and mortality among older adults: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database

So, what does this mean, in practical terms?

❝Public health messaging tends to focus on college campuses, but our findings show we need to think about retirement communities too❞

~ Dr Esme Fuller-Thomson

And for you, dear reader… Based on the above statistics, tens of thousands of our readers fall into the binge-drinking category. Maybe you are one.

Note that that “four standard drinks” is often only two drinks where each drink is a “double measure”, such as a double-shot of spirits or a large glass of wine.

This gets particularly relevant for those who “only drink on special occasions”, but then have several drinks.

Here’s a good example of that: You’d Better Watch Out: Why More Cardiac Deaths Happen On Dec 25 Than Any Other Day

Want to not do that?

Let us also remember that per the World Health Organization, the only safe amount of alcohol is zero.

So, with that in mind, you might want to check out: How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol

Or for a deeper dive, we recommend: Quit Drinking – by Rebecca Dolton

Take care!