The Centers for Disease Control says Nebraska ranks second in the nation when it comes to binge drinking.
The Vital Signs report released in January says one in six adults binge drink. Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks for women, and five or more drinks for men, on one occasion.
Douglas County and CDC officials met last week to discuss the role of public health departments in curbing binge drinking. Health Department director Dr. Adi Pour says she’s concerned in particular about new statistics on drunk driving in Douglas County.“6.7 percent of adults have driven in the past month after perhaps having too much to drink. And it’s up to 10 percent that have driven or ridden with a driver in the past month who’d had too much to drink. So we want to see how can we address that.”
Dr. Pour says there’s a misconception that binge drinking is a problem limited to the college-age population. But she says the national data shows it’s also a problem in the 40 and 50 year old populations.
The CDC report says adults 65 and older reported binge drinking five or six times a month.