During binges, U.S. adults have 17 billion drinks a year
The average U.S. adult binge drinker consumed 470 alcoholic beverages in 2015, totaling 17 billion drinks, according to a first-of-its-kind study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours. CDC researchers found that 1 in 6, or 37 million, adults binge drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge.