Study: Binge drinking still big on campus

BOSTON, March 25 (UPI) -- College students continue to binge drink at a high rate despite efforts to curb the practice, according to a Harvard study released Monday.

The Harvard School of Public Health survey of 10,000 students at 119 colleges around the nation found that since 1993 the percentage of students who binge drink has remained at 44 percent.

"This is a deeply entrenched, long-standing problem on college campuses, and it's not going to disappear overnight," said Henry Wechsler, the principal investigator of the study and director of the school's College Alcohol Studies.

"We have to do many things in order to reduce the level of drinking," he told United Press International.

He said a major finding was that "binge drinking remains the same" over the period, "and it did so despite some positive trends that might have driven it down, such as more students living in substance-free dorms and less binge drinking in high school by these college students."

He said one surprise from the study was a rise in binge drinking in all-women's colleges.

"The drinking style on campus is still one of excess," he said in a release detailing the study. "If you are a traditional college student and you drink, the odds are 7-in-10 that you are a binge drinker."

A traditional college student is defined as one between the ages of 18 and 23 who does not live with his or her parents.

Despite students being more exposed to educational materials regarding the dangers of alcohol consumption, Wechsler said "it seems that other powerful forces are driving the college binge-drinking phenomenon."

Such forces included alcohol promotion campaigns on campus, the many bars and liquor stores located near colleges, off-campus keg parties and the emphasis of drinking at fraternities and sororities and at sporting events.

Binge drinking was defined, for men, as having five drinks in a row at least once in the two weeks before the survey and four drinks for women.

"We consider this to be a serious public health problem," Wechsler said, suggesting authorities do more to crack down on alcohol advertising and increase the availability of substance-free housing.

The study said one encouraging finding was that underage students at colleges in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking were less likely to binge drink.

The study found the level of binge drinking over the past nine years remained stable despite positive national trends, including fewer college students reporting they engaged in binge drinking while in high school. In 1993, 32 percent were high school binge drinkers while only 26 percent were in 2001, a decrease of 19 percent.

"In this survey year, we've seen fewer students coming into college with binge-drinking experience in high school, but still the overall binge-drinking rate has remained the same," said Wechsler. "The protective factors driving lower high school binge-drinking rates, such as decreased access to alcohol, may disappear once these students arrive at college."

There was also a 65 percent increase in the number of students living in substance-free housing, which may have played a role in reducing the use of alcohol. The study also found there were 25 percent fewer student members of fraternities and sororities.

However, almost 3-in-4 students -- or 75 percent -- living in a fraternity or sorority house binge drink.

"The fraternity and sorority system is a center of binge-drinking on campus," Wechsler said.

While only 25 percent of students who lived at home with their parents were binge-drinkers, half of those who lived off campus away from their parents were binge-drinkers.

The survey also found a sharp increase in binge drinking at the five all-women's colleges, from 5 to 12 percent.

While there was a decrease from about 26 percent to 21 percent in abstainers at all-women's colleges, the rate of abstention increased from about 17 percent to 19 percent nationally among women at coeducational colleges.

"Although women at all women's colleges still drink considerably less than women at coed schools, this finding could be an important shift among female students at these colleges," Wechsler said. "Our previous surveys found that attending college at an all women's school was very protective. That seems to be less so now."

The survey also found that in general, college students in the Northeast and Midwest drank more than those in the South and West. This, Wechsler said, may be due to "the need to be huddled indoors more of the time" in colder areas.

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(For more information, see the Web site hdph.Harvard.edu)