Binge drinking - United States, 2011

During 2001-2005, excessive alcohol use accounted for an estimated average of 80,000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the United States each year, and an estimated $223.5 billion in economic costs in 2006. Binge drinking, defined as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks on one or more occasions for women and five or more drinks on one or more occasions for men, was responsible for more than half of these deaths, two-thirds of the YPLL, and three quarters of the economic costs. Reducing the prevalence of binge drinking among adults is also a leading health indicator in Healthy People 2020 (objective SA-14.3).