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The Harvard School of Public Health had been tracking the use of alcohol on college campus in the United States since 1993. Dr. Henry Wechsler, the primary researcher, has popularized the term binge drinker. The definition of a binge drinker is a male who has 5 or more drinks in a single setting within a 2-week period of time or a female who has 4 or more drinks in a single setting within a 2-week period of time. The term frequent binge drinker is an individual who engages in the above frequency of drinking 3 or more times within a 2-week period of time.

  In 2000, Dr. Wechsler published data about the drinking practices found at the collegiate level. 19% of students abstained from the use of alcohol. 37% of students enjoyed alcohol but not at binge level criteria. Occasional binge drinkers were about 21% of the sample. 23% of the students met criteria for the designation of frequent binge drinkers. It was also noted that 1/3 of the colleges surveyed in the United States were high binge schools, i.e., more than half of the student bony were binge drinkers.

  Many might argue the seemingly arbitrary amounts of alcohol that were used as criteria in the study. Unfortunately there is a high correlation between the frequencies of drinking alcohol to the number of problems these users experience.

·        71% of frequent bingers experienced academic problems contrasted to 43% of the bingers and 14% of the non-bingers

·        45% of frequent bingers engaged in high risk sex with 25% of the bingers and 9% of the non-bingers reporting the same behavior

·        74% of frequent bingers reported driving while under the influence of alcohol as compared to 53% of the bingers and 26% of the non-bingers

Other studies have also verified the fact that frequent binge drinkers develop more alcohol-related problems than their peers who drink less in quantity and frequency.

  The drinking behavior of students also affects others. This is called a second-hand binge. Students cited the following types of negative effects:

·        58% reported that studying and sleep had been interrupted

·        50% had to take care of fellow students who were  drunk

·        29% were involved in altercations with intoxicated students in which they felt insulted or humiliated

·        77% of students reported at least one negative episode due to another student’s alcohol-related behavior

  Study after study indicates that high-risk use of alcohol and other chemicals causes behavior that results in problematic situations.

If you would like more information about the Harvard Study please use the link below:

  http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/cas/rpt2000/CAS2000.shtml

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