Binge Drinking Declines with Creative Ideas

Binge Drinking Declines with Creative Ideas

Reports of binge drinking in college have long made headlines. Yet as more schools offer increasingly creative alternatives to shots and beer pong, they see noticeable declines in drinking, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Surveys at Purdue University, for example, show a sharp drop in binge drinking among students, to 37.3% in 2009 from 48% in 2006 -- a decline attributed in part to a boom in late-night, alcohol-free events on or around campus, from poetry slams and dances to carnivals and "cabin-fever" parties, the newspaper reports.

About 100 colleges and universities do a good job of supporting alcohol-free activities that are frequent, regular and entertaining enough to compete with drinking, Brandon Busteed, chief executive of Outside the Classroom, Needham, Mass., told the newspaper.

About 37% of college students engage in binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row during the preceding two weeks, according to 2009 data from a long-term study at the University of Michigan attributed in the Wall Street Journal. That is down about 3% from 2008 levels, but still higher than high-school seniors and young adults who don't attend college.

Binge drinking in college is linked in research to risky sexual behavior, lower grades and a rise in violent crime, accidental injury and death.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870331290457614623211704660...