Americans are doing more binge drinking, smoking and overeating than they were a decade ago, but they are also more willing to buckle their seat belts and get tests and shots to prevent disease, government research suggests.
Researchers compiled results from monthly state telephone surveys of thousands and thousands of adults ages 18 and over, collected randomly from 1991 to 2000. Participants were asked about 11 health behaviors: smoking, drinking, physical inactivity, obesity, seat-belt use, mammograms, Pap tests, colorectal cancer and cholesterol screenings, and flu and pneumococcal vaccines.