The Atlantic:
Binge drinking varies from one in ten adults (10.9 percent) at the low end of the spectrum to more than one in four (25.6 percent) at the high end. There is something of a binge drinking belt across the north of the country, running westward from New England, Pennsylvania and Ohio to Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana. Alaska ranks high too, suggesting that long, cold winters might play a role, though tropical Hawaii is in the top tier as well.
The article continues with this:
Binge drinking is also more prevalent in more affluent states (the correlation with economic output per capita is .3). This is in line with the CDC’s own finding that the income group with the most binge drinkers is those making more than $75,000. Binge drinking is also higher in more educated states, with a correlation of .36 to the share of adults who are college grads. Both are in line with national patterns I charted
last year, which found even stronger associations between alcohol consumption and economic output and human capital. Although I should also note that the CDC found that the income group that binge drinks more often (as opposed to the sheer number of binge drinking participants) and drinks the most per binge is those making $25,000 a year or less.
Still it may come as some surprise that binge drinking is more prevalent in states whose socio-economic profiles would seem more in line with latte sipping than brewski chugging.
I don't know, but I'd attribute the map more to long winters, Irish and German ancestry,and more Catholics and Lutherans than other parts of the country. This idea is strengthened by the fact that Indiana shows up with a lower rate than Ohio or Illinois. Indiana is more of a southern style state, with the exception of Fort Wayne and South Bend. I would guess that binge drinking isn't near as common in the Bible Belt, or at least it isn't admitted to. Based on my familiarity with some pretty conservative rural areas and their drinking habits, I'm guessing this isn't a liberal thing.
Based on the states of Minnesota and North Dakota, (where I have lived) I would also say drinking is a problem that came over with our Scandinavian ancestors. We also have plenty of drunken company with the native peoples.
ReplyDeleteBut even the Germans—who are a LOT more sane in their drinking habits—will binge drink. Why? They understand that the whole point of drinking is to get drunk but since they still must work, they alternate between long stretches of sobriety which is followed by a rewarding binge.
I fall into the work when you work, drink when you drink category. My association of drinking with relaxation and time away from work sometimes makes vacations interesting.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the culture in the Northern part of the country is different than the rest of the nation, and it is a drinking culture.
I tried to include the Scandinavians into my explanation of the drinking belt by throwing Lutheran in there.