Binge Drinking

[SigkapAlumWSU]

Binge drinking is considered 5 or more drinks in one sitting. Do you agreee or disagree with this fact?

I ask because I just don't think that it is as straightforward as that anymore. I was in a Sociology study at my school a while back, and they asked the group a very simple question: How much do you drink?

Not one person could answer this. Instead we asked questions of our own. What day of the week? Beginning middle of end of the semester? Bar or party? Drinking beer, shots, drinks? What time of night? Weekend or weekday? Game weekend, holiday, etc.... You get the idea. I know that every person is different also, due to tolerance and body mass among other things, so is it fair to say that a guy who is 6'5 and 260lbs and a girl at 5'5 and 135 can both drink 5 drinks in one sitting and both be binge drinkers, even though it will affect them differently?

[aephi alum]

I disagree with this definition.

The definition is actually more restrictive for women - 4 drinks in one sitting is considered binge drinking for a woman, vs. 5 drinks for a man.

This definition fails to take into account several factors:

- Your weight affects your tolerance.

- A "sitting" is very ill defined. Suppose I go bar hopping, visit 10 bars, and have a beer at each. Is that one sitting or ten?

- The time factor is not taken into account. Chugging 5 beers in a row is very different from sitting down to dinner, having a martini, 2 glasses of wine, a glass of sherry, and a glass of cognac, spaced out over 3 hours or so.

- Some people just have a higher alcohol tolerance than others. For instance, my husband and his family have zero tolerance for alcohol and get loopy after one or two drinks, while my family (myself included) can put away quite a bit without feeling it.

[kappaloo]

I agree that the word "sitting" is very vague.

The average body can handle 1 drink an hour. At 2 an hour, you're still not getting drunk. I wouldn't call it binge drinking.

[Kevlar281]

Originally posted by SigkapAlumWSU
Binge drinking is considered 5 or more drinks in one sitting.

Anyone who agrees with that has never been to a baseball game.

[shopgirl]

Originally posted by kappaloo
I agree that the word "sitting" is very vague.

The average body can handle 1 drink an hour. At 2 an hour, you're still not getting drunk. I wouldn't call it binge drinking.

Two drinks in one hour and I'm gone!

I had an 8 oz glass of wine last weekend and felt that
for at least two-three hours.

It definitely depends on the person.

[veemers]

Originally posted by kappaloo
I agree that the word "sitting" is very vague.

The average body can handle 1 drink an hour. At 2 an hour, you're still not getting drunk. I wouldn't call it binge drinking.

It's not that the body can handle one an hour; it's that the liver can metabolize at most the alcohol found in one drink per hour. And just because you don't feel drunk does not mean that alcohol isn't having an effect on your body. My roommate can drink 18 drinks in a four hour time frame without feeling more than tipsy; that does not mean she should keep doing that.

At one sitting means in the course of one evening, or in the course of three to four hours. I would have to say that I agree with the definition of binge drinking. No one should be drinking five drinks in one night. I'm not trying to stand on a soapbox or anything; I've just seen what alcohol can do to too many people.