Friday,
August 22, 2003
‘BINGE DRINKING’ NO REAL MEANING
IN ALCOHOL DEBATE
An analysis of
existing alcohol research by Professor Ian McAllister from the Australian
National University, has shown that terms such as ‘binge drinking’
make no meaningful contribution to the alcohol debate in Australia.
John Pollaers, Chairman of the Distilled Spirits Industry
Council of Australia, said the use of the term ‘binge drinking’
has been widely interpreted by different organisations to mean different
things, and therefore has no place in accurately describing risk levels
of alcohol consumption.
Professor McAllister in his report, Alcohol
Consumption Among Adolescents and Young Adults claims that
terms such as ‘binge drinking’ are ‘so ambiguous that
they have little place in scientific research’.
Mr Pollaers said that there are so many different definitions
of binge drinking that the use of the term has become unreliable and
in many cases contradictory. In fact, the Australian
Alcohol Guidelines (the Guidelines) state that ‘binge
drinking’ is ‘not a preferred term due to its lack of consistent
and specific meaning’. (The Guidelines have been produced by
the National Health and Medical Research Council, and were endorsed
in October 2001.)
The term ‘binge drinking’ is avoided as much
as possible in the Guidelines, ‘as its meaning is ill-defined
and unclear’.
Mr Pollaers said the Australian Drug Foundation, a prominent
organisation on alcohol issues, defined ‘binge drinking’
as ‘drinking heavily over a short period of time or drinking
continuously over a number of days or weeks’.
The Salvation Army Alcohol
Awareness Survey (conducted by Roy Morgan Research in 2002)
defines ‘binge drinking’ as ‘being at least three times
the accepted level of drinking’ (ie the accepted level for males
is 2 drinks for the first hour and 1 drink an hour after that, and
for females, 1 drink per hour). There is no similar definition in
the Guidelines.
‘There is no precise, commonly understood meaning
when commentators use the term “binge drinking”,’ said
Mr Pollaers.
‘Alcohol use should be classified by level of risk.
The Guidelines state that consumption should be assessed into the
categories of “low risk”,“risky” or “high
risk” (for both short and long term),’ he said. A copy of
the relevant risk levels from the Guidelines is attached.
‘The term “binge drinking” no longer carries
any scientific currency and should not be used in the alcohol debate,’
observed Mr Pollaers.
‘Public education on the Guidelines is a key action
issue under the National Alcohol Strategy. DSICA supports the dissemination
and implementation of the Guidelines, consistent with that Strategy,’
concluded Mr Pollaers.
