Binge Drinking Declines in Late ’80s, Rises Again in Late ’90s

Newswise — Alcohol use and binge drinking declined during the last half of the 1980s but increased between 1997 and 1999, according to a new study that examines national surveys conducted between 1985 and 1999.

In the late 1980s, moderate and binge drinking rates fell most noticeably among 18- to 20-year-olds as states adopted laws that set the minimum drinking age at 21 and established zero-tolerance blood-alcohol limits for driving, say Mary Serdula, M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their findings are published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Despite the 1980s decline, the overall proportion of binge drinking remained mostly the same between 1985 and 1997. However, the proportion of binge drinkers increased across all ages from 1997 to 1999, with the biggest gains coming among 18- to 25-year-olds.

Although the researchers do not know exactly why alcohol consumption and binge drinking "increased substantially" in the late 1990s, they suggest more alcohol marketing and cheaper prices because of lower alcohol excise taxes in most states may be partially to blame.

"Among all age groups, the prevalence of current alcohol use declined during the last half of the 1980s, leveled off during most of the 1990s and increased or remained the same between 1997 and 1999," Serdula says.

"Whether this recent increase represents a trend will need to be explored in future years and confirmed by other surveys," she adds. "But it's disturbing to see that such a large proportion of U.S. adults drink dangerously, and that this hasn't changed much over the years."

Serdula and colleagues analyzed drinking trends using survey data from 449,110 people. In the survey, current drinking was defined as having had a drink within the last month and binge drinking was defined as five or more drinks on one occasion.

Between 1985 and 1999, the prevalence of current drinking fell by 7 percent, with the greatest declines coming among 18- to 20-year-olds. This same age group, however, reported the largest increase in current drinking between 1997 and 1999.

Drinking was more common among men compared to women and white people compared to other racial or ethnic groups over the entire length of the survey, the researchers found.