SC near top of worst states for binge drinking in the Southeast, new ranking shows
A new report found South Carolina has the third highest incidence of binge drinking in the Southeast and is higher than the national average.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control, USA Facts said 16.2% of South Carolina residents are binge drinkers. The national average is 15.3% or 1 in 6 people. Virginia also had 16.2% of residents classified as binge drinkers.
The immediate health risks of binge drinking are injuries, violence, alcohol poisoning, risky sexual behaviors and miscarriage and stillbirth among pregnant women, the CDC reports.
And continued over-indulgence can cause various forms of cancer, a weakened immune system, learning and memory problems, poor mental health, social challenges and alcohol use disorders.
The Surgeon General says hypertension and liver disease are also related to binge drinking.
“Binge drinking is a serious but preventable public health problem,” USA Facts wrote in its report. “Binge drinking is the most common and costly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States”
The definition of binge drinking according to health experts may surprise many people. It’s five or more drinks for men and four or more for women during a single occasion.
USA Facts found Wisconsin at 23.5% as having the most binge drinkers. Utah, where 66% of residents are members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, which expressly prohibits alcohol consumption, had the least at 11.7%.
Across the South, six of the 10 states had higher excessive alcohol use than the national average. Louisiana and North Carolina had the largest percentage. The least was Mississippi at 13.5%
A 2020 study by Forbes magazine ranked South Carolina No. 7 in the country of worst states for drunk driving and found 29.6% of South Carolina deaths that year were caused by a drunk driver. South Carolina was the only Southern state in the top 10.
Highest drunk driving rate in the US was in Wyoming.
South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services has a number of programs relating to alcohol and drug abuse, including providing funding for local programs geared toward school-age children.
USA facts said the top 10 worst states for binge drinking after Wisconsin were Montana 22.9%, Iowa 21.8%, North Dakota 21.7%, South Dakota: 21.1%, Nebraska 20.8%, Colorado 19.5%, Vermont 19.2%, Rhode Island 18.9% and Ohio 18.5%.
South Carolina is No. 27 nationally.
