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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of people aged 21 years and over who engaged in binge drinking in the past month — SU‑10 Infographic

This objective is a Leading Health Indicator (LHI). Learn about LHIs.

Status: Little or no detectable change

  Little or no detectable change

Most Recent Data:
26.0 percent (2019)

Target:
25.4 percent

Desired Direction:
Decrease desired

Baseline:
26.6 percent of persons aged 21 years and over reported binge drinking in the past 30 days in 2018

Binge drinking can result in harmful behaviors like dangerous driving, risky sexual behaviors, and violence. Over time, binge drinking also raises the risk of serious health problems like cancer, heart disease, and liver failure. There are disparities in binge drinking for various demographic groups, including disparities by sexual orientation. Strategies to discourage binge drinking, along with interventions to improve acceptance and inclusion of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, can help reduce disparities and mitigate the harmful effects of binge drinking.

In 2018, 26.6 percent of people aged 21 years and over reported binge drinking in the past 30 days.

Data Source:  National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), SAMHSA

Disparities in binge drinking rates among people aged 21 years and over by sexual orientation: Highest/lowest rate ‡

In 2018, bisexual adults aged 21 years and over had the highest group rate of binge drinking (38.6 percent). Straight adults aged 21 years and over (reference group) had the lowest group rate (26.4 percent).

The rate of binge drinking among bisexual adults was 46.6 percent higher than the rate among straight adults (maximal rate ratio = 1.466). The difference between the highest and lowest group rates was 12.3 percentage points (maximal rate difference).

Learn about how we calculate disparities data.

Disparities in binge drinking rates among people aged 21 years and over by sexual orientation: All groups ‡

In 2018, straight adults aged 21 years and over had the lowest group rate of binge drinking (26.4 percent).

  • The rate of binge drinking among gay or lesbian adults was 24.9 percent higher than the lowest group rate.
  • The rate of binge drinking among bisexual adults was 46.6 percent higher than the lowest group rate.

Percentage of binge drinking among people aged 21 years and over, 2018

26.4% Straight adults
32.9% Gay or lesbian adults
38.6% Bisexual adults

Find data for additional demographic groups.