The report, "Alcohol and Pregnancy Don't Mix," warned that this rise in binge drinking could lead to a number of negative health consequences, including unintended pregnancies and fetal alcohol syndrome.

"Binge drinking and heavy-drinking patterns present the most and greatest risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and as we see the increase across the board nationally, that's very alarming to us," said Tom Donaldson, president of NOFAS.

Citing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report said that reports of frequent drinking during pregnancy doubled from 0.8 percent in 1991 to 1.6 percent in 2001.

The states with the largest increase in binge drinking between 1999 and 2002 were Arizona, 137 percent; Illinois, 77 percent; the District of Columbia, 62 percent; Connecticut, 48 percent; and Maine, 44 percent.

Experts said advertising targeting young women may be causing the increase in binge-drinking rates. "The marketing of alcohol, the specials that are offered around campuses that make getting drunk cheaper than going to the movies, are an allure that draw people to drinking more than they normally would," said Henry Wechsler, director of College Alcohol Studies at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Mass. "The more prices are lowered and drinks become super-sized, the greater the chance that people will drink more at a sitting."

States with the most significant decreases in binge drinking were Kentucky with a 30-percent decline; Hawaii, 23 percent; Alabama, 20 percent; Indiana, 19 percent; and New Hampshire, 18 percent.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

SUBMIT A COMMENT:

Note: Comments are now held for moderator approval. More info

Name:
Comment: (limit 250 words)
Enter this word (help):	Change

GUIDELINES: 
Please keep comments on-topic, courteous, clean, non-commercial, and within the word limit.
Read the complete guidelines