Frequent binge drinking is common among active military

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Binge drinking among military personnel is common, according to a new study, and it may have serious health and social repercussions.

Among the 16,037 men and women surveyed in 2005, 43% reported binge drinking in the last month, resulting in almost 30 episodes per person per year. About 67% of binge drinking episodes were reported by military personnel ages 17 to 25, and that age group made up a little under half of all the active personnel surveyed. Researchers define binge drinking as consuming five or more drinks during a single occasion for men, and four or more for women.

Men were twice as likely to binge drink as women, but women weren’t immune to the scenario — they averaged about 12 binge-drinking episodes per person per year.

Both genders who engaged in binge drinking were more likely to have adverse consequences such as getting into a fight, not being promoted, and drinking and driving, than those who drank but didn’t binge drink. More than half of all binge drinkers said they experienced one or more undesirable results or engaged in high-risk behavior.

Researchers looked at data from the Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel, an anonymous health survey of active military in the U.S., overseas and on ships. The study was published in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

In the general population, 22% of moderate drinkers in the U.S. reported binge drinking, according to a 2003 study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Researchers also found that people ages 18 to 25 had the highest rates of binge drinking, and that men were responsible for the vast majority of binge-drinking episodes.

-- Jeannine Stein