Many in Queens admit to binge drinking

Many Queens residents like their alcohol, so much so that they say they down more than five drinks in one sitting every month.
In a recent telephone survey conducted throughout the city, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) found that 14 percent of adults who live in Queens admitted to binge drinking. The numbers are similar to those in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, but less than the 21 percent of Manhattan residents who binge drink.
In the survey, only six percent of Queens women said that they were binge drinkers compared to 21 percent of Queens men. These rates were lower than those of the city as a whole, which are seven percent and 23 percent, respectively.
“All New Yorkers should understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy drinking,” DOHMH Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said. “Moderate alcohol consumption - no more than one- or two-drinks per day for men and one for women - is safe for most adults, and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. However, excessive drinking can cause serious health problems.”
Frieden added that about 1,500 New Yorkers die and 25,000 are hospitalized each year because of alcohol-related illnesses, accidents and acts of violence.
Because of the city’s diversity, the DOHMH sorted the statistics based on race finding that one in four white and Hispanic men reported drinking excessively, but only one in six black men and one in eight Asian men reported unhealthy drinking.
White women were more likely to binge drink than black, Hispanic and Asian women were, but were still only half as likely to do so as men.
“Alcoholism is a disease, but recovery is possible,” Frieden said. “People can, and do, get better every day.”
Binge drinking increases the risk of cirrhosis of the liver, pneumonia, hepatitis, osteoporosis, hypertension and many cancers. It can also increase the risk of accidents and injuries, violence, depression and suicide. Excessive drinkers are also more likely to smoke heavily, use drugs and have multiple sexual partners than people who do not binge drink.
According to the DOHMH, women and senior citizens should limit alcohol intake to three drinks on one occasion or seven a week. Men should avoid drinking more than four drinks on one occasion or 14 a week.
Binge drinking may also set a bad example for children. Although alcohol use among adolescents is illegal, many teens experiment with illicit substances. In a DOHMH survey taken in 2005, an estimated 93,000 public high school students in the city reported using alcohol in the previous month.
Queens has the lowest alcohol consumption among youths across the city with just 31 percent of Queens youth reporting using alcohol in the past month, compared to 46 percent in Staten Island and 40 percent in Manhattan.
Teen substance use is important to monitor because teens that drink or use drugs are more likely than those who do not to become addicted as adults and suffer the accompanying health, social and financial risks.
“New Yorkers who regularly drink excessively, or who drink to get through the day, should talk to a doctor. They can also call 3-1-1 and ask for LifeNet, or go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting,” Frieden said.