More Americans Engage in Heavy Drinking, CDC Finds

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds an increase in the percentage of adults who had five or more drinks in one day at least once in the past year. The prevalence of adult smoking remained unchanged in most age groups, but declined among young adults.

The CDC found about 60 percent of American adults drink, HealthDay reports. The percentage of adults who had five or more drinks in one day in the previous year increased from 20.5 percent in 2005-2007, to 23.6 percent in 2008-2010.

About 20 percent of adults smoke. Among young adults ages 18 to 24, the percentage who smoke declined from 23.5 percent in 2005-2007, to 21.2 percent in 2008-2010. Less than one-half of smokers tried quitting in the past year, the report found. The findings come from a survey of 77,000 people.

“Smoking has remained very stubborn at one in five adults. It’s just a terrible addiction,” said report author Charlotte Schoenborn of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. “The one small little glimmer of hope I saw was in the 18- to 24-year-olds, where we saw some improvement.”