Young 'n' trendy twice as likely to binge drink: Study

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http://www.canada.com/health/Young+trendy+twice+likely+binge+drink+Study/1591951\

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Young 'n' trendy twice as likely to binge drink: Study

By Proudfoot, Canwest News Service

They're young, highly educated, tech-savvy and ethnically diverse urbanites with

fat paycheques, and new research suggests " Cyber Millennials " are the most

likely binge-drinkers.

The study, published in an upcoming issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental

Research, uses " market segmentation " — categorizing people by their behaviours,

attitudes, opinions or lifestyles — to determine who's most likely to drink

heavily.

It's a new approach that hasn't been attempted before scientifically, says

Moss, associate director for clinical and translational research with the

land-based National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The researchers found that Cyber Millennials are twice as likely as the national

average to admit to binge drinking, which in this case is defined as five or

more drinks on a single occasion at least twice in one month.

They are tech-savvy couples or singles living in trendy neighbourhoods on the

urban fringe, Moss says, and they're highly educated and range in age from 25 to

44, with a median household income of about $92,000.

" The communities in which they live lend themselves to boutiques and bars of all

sorts and fine restaurants, and I could envision just the availability of

outlets for alcohol to permit this group to, shall we say, party a little

harder, " he says.

But it was surprising to find that the hard-drinking Cyber Millennials are

otherwise one of the healthiest population segments, he says, smoking less than

average, hitting the gym and scooping up organic produce.

Florence Kellner, a senior research analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance

Abuse, says there are " bones of contention " about defining binge-drinking by the

standard five-plus drinks yardstick. Someone who goes out for a relaxed evening

with a drink before dinner, a few glasses of wine while they eat and a drink

afterward can easily meet the criteria, she says, leading some to suggest a

better definition might be the intention to get drunk.

" When you give it a numerical translation, the line blurs between normal and

drinking that can harm you, " Kellner says.

However it's defined, heavy drinking is more prevalent among young, single

adults, she says, but it may be " at best a life-stage " that people outgrow and

move on from when their lifestyle makes it less palatable.

" This is the time of life where people are going to drink most heavily because

they're free of responsibility and they have money, " Kellner says. " They don't

have to get up with young babies and they may not have to be all there when they

get up for their job, or they keep it to the weekends. "

In binge drinking, Cyber Millennials are followed closely by " Laid-Back Towners "

— upper-middle-class 35- to 54-year-olds who work in well-paid blue or white

collar jobs and are just starting to become empty-nesters. After that comes

" City Producers, " or young college-educated immigrants who are more likely to

rent than own their homes.

" These folks typically aren't on our radar screen as binge drinkers, " says Moss.

" We tend to think of that group as being in some ways protected from excessive

alcohol consumption. "

The study is based on proprietary U.S. market research drawn from sources like

the Department of Motor Vehicles and credit card databases, which the

researchers cross-referenced with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

data on alcohol use.

© Copyright © Canwest News Service

[Guest guest]

Not surprising. IN the US, the desire to be liked by everyone has reached nearly pathological levels. It was bad enough when I was a kid, but these days with the internet and all else, it seems so much worse. But this should be no real surprise since for decades the young and popular have been portrayed as rich, partying all the time, and never suffering consequences for anything, at least nothing that wasn't fixed by the next episode.

In a message dated 5/15/2009 6:00:08 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

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