Where does United States rank among countries having ‘binge drinkers’?
The rank for US is interesting given that it is considered a drinking nation.
People often wonder which nationalities binge drink the most among the countries of the world. A new study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has made revealed that the top position for people who binge drink the most, is held by Denmark followed by Romania and Britain. The study was done among OECD member countries as part of a wider review of health care.
According to the study, US ranks 10th for people who do binge drinking the most. The result for US is interesting because it is considered a drinking nation. Interestingly, other famous drinking nations namely Germany and Ireland ranked 5th and 8th respectively.
"Nearly one in five adults (19%) reported heavy episodic drinking at least once a month, on average across 29 countries in 2019," says the study.
"This proportion varies 10-fold, from less than 3% in Turkey and Italy to more than 30% in Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Denmark, as well as Romania," concluded the researchers.
What's binge drinking?
As per the researchers, binge drinking is defined as having at least six drinks in a single session.
As per the study, 26% of men in all countries confessed about heavy episodic drinking at least once a month, compared to 12% of women. In Romania, around 55% of men admitted to binge drinking. In Denmark and Luxemburg, the percentage of men who admitted binge drinking was under 50% and around 46% respectively.
The study revealed that in all the countries surveyed, men drank more than women.
Notably, Russia which is also a famous drinking nation, was not ranked in the study because it is not an OECD member. The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation headquartered in France. There are a total of 38 member countries.
OECD stressed on health care as alcohol use remains "a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, particularly among those of working age."