2008 Woodie Awards
Binge drinking: know the facts and be safe
Mary Jane Rogan
Issue date: 12/7/04 Section: Features
The term "binge drinking" is often thrown around when discussing alcohol use among college students.
The National Institue of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAA, is a national advisory group who studies this kind of thing. The NIAAA offers this definition of binge drinking: "A binge is a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 gram percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks for males, or four or more drinks for females in about two hours. Binge drinking is dangerous for the drinker and for society." This definition focuses more on the physiological effect of alcohol; it is based on a measurement of the amount of alcohol used over a period of time: the blood alcohol content (BAC). What is BAC? It is the percentage of alcohol in the blood. BAC is determined mostly by how much and how fast someone drinks.
To make sense of this we need to understand what is meant by "a drink." A drink refers to half an ounce of alcohol. This is the amount found in 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine and oneand- a-half ounces of liquor. These all contain the same amount of pure alcohol: one-half ounce.
The body can metabolize slightly less than one half ounce of alcohol per hour. Alcohol metabolism is also affected by individual body composition, use of medication, gender, mood changes, and personal metabolism rate. So back to the binge definition. Why does it matter? Alcohol is a depressant. The more you drink, the more "depressed" your brain activity becomes. As you continue to drink and alcohol levels increase, specific parts of the brain are affected more significantly.
Alcohol can be toxic to the body. If a person drinks so much that he passes out, itʼs because the alcohol has caused the brain to start shutting down, resulting in a personʼs loss of consciousness. The amount of alcohol it takes to make a person pass out is dangerously close to the amount of alcohol it takes to kill a person.
Tips for staying safe when drinking include: pace drinks to one per hour; alternate with non-alcoholic drinks; eat before and during drinking; and avoid drinking games. For more information on how alcohol works and charts that help you estimate BAC, visit www.factsontap. org.
The National Institue of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAA, is a national advisory group who studies this kind of thing. The NIAAA offers this definition of binge drinking: "A binge is a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 gram percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks for males, or four or more drinks for females in about two hours. Binge drinking is dangerous for the drinker and for society." This definition focuses more on the physiological effect of alcohol; it is based on a measurement of the amount of alcohol used over a period of time: the blood alcohol content (BAC). What is BAC? It is the percentage of alcohol in the blood. BAC is determined mostly by how much and how fast someone drinks.
To make sense of this we need to understand what is meant by "a drink." A drink refers to half an ounce of alcohol. This is the amount found in 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine and oneand- a-half ounces of liquor. These all contain the same amount of pure alcohol: one-half ounce.
The body can metabolize slightly less than one half ounce of alcohol per hour. Alcohol metabolism is also affected by individual body composition, use of medication, gender, mood changes, and personal metabolism rate. So back to the binge definition. Why does it matter? Alcohol is a depressant. The more you drink, the more "depressed" your brain activity becomes. As you continue to drink and alcohol levels increase, specific parts of the brain are affected more significantly.
Alcohol can be toxic to the body. If a person drinks so much that he passes out, itʼs because the alcohol has caused the brain to start shutting down, resulting in a personʼs loss of consciousness. The amount of alcohol it takes to make a person pass out is dangerously close to the amount of alcohol it takes to kill a person.
Tips for staying safe when drinking include: pace drinks to one per hour; alternate with non-alcoholic drinks; eat before and during drinking; and avoid drinking games. For more information on how alcohol works and charts that help you estimate BAC, visit www.factsontap. org.
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