Birthday bingeing in the U.S.

A U.S. study of 2,518 current and former college students has revealed dangerously-high levels of drinking by people as they celebrate their 21st birthdays. (21 is the legal age for drinking in the U.S.). Over 80% of the participants reported that they had consumed some alcohol on their 21st. 34% of men and 24% of women had consumed 21 drinks or more. The maximum for men was about 50 drinks, the maximum for women about 30. The researchers estimated that 49% of men and 35% of women had blood alcohol contents of 0.26 or higher, a level that indicates severe alcohol intoxication which could lead to dangerous health problems such as disorientation, coma and even death.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/05/20/binge-drinking-on-21st-birthday-is-a-problem/2320.html