Female binge drinking: What's the story?
Female binge drinking has received a lot of attention in the press lately. Many major news outlets have run with the story that female binge drinking is a growing problem, yet the facts simply don't back it up.
As we illustrated earlier this month, female binge drinking rates have actually fallen since The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility's inception in 1991. Further, as Trevor Butterworth argues in Forbes, hysteria over female binge drinking may have the opposite of its intended effect - help to normalize the behavior, and increase its likelihood.
We agree that the problem is one worthy of attention and study – binge drinking is dangerous. That’s why we believe reporting the trend is so important – if the numbers are going down, those groups who work on the issue must be doing something right. Let’s keep it up.
