The city that never sleeps is probably just passed out somewhere.
The majority of New Yorkers drink booze
at least once a month, and nearly one in three engage in dangerous
bouts of “binge” drinking, according to data released by the city’s
Health Department on Tuesday.
All that boozing is bad for our health.
Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said binge drinking — which 29% of New
Yorkers engage in, according to the latest stats — is responsible “for
preventable injuries, accidents and risky behavior.”
The data, which examines drinking and health among adults living in the
five boroughs, also finds that binge drinkers are twice as likely to be
smokers than people who drink moderately, and less likely to have a
routine health care provider and get preventative dental treatments.
“When nearly 30% of adult drinkers report that they binge drink that
means our city has more outreach and education to do,” said City
Councilman Corey Johnson, a Democrat who reps the West Side of Manhattan
and is the chair of the Council’s Health Committee.
Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting within a month for men, and four or more for women.
In the same survey, the Health Department found that 54% of New Yorkers
were “current” drinkers, their term for those who imbibe at least once a
month.
The Health Department’s survey found that most of the people labeled
binge drinkers were men, with 59%, while 48% of men drank but not to
excess, while another 40% of men abstained.
And most binge drinkers — 58% — were between the ages of 24 and 44, the study found.
Manhattan had the most big drinkers, with 30% of the binge drinkers reporting living there.
Queens and Brooklyn tied with 25% of reporting binge drinking, followed by 16% in the Bronx and 5% in Staten Island.
There is good news among the sobering stats.
The over-indulging doesn’t seem to be getting any worse. The number of
binge drinkers has been holding steady since 2011 — which is something
to cheer.
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