Did you know that April is Alcohol Awareness Month? More than 30 years ago, public health experts founded Alcohol Awareness Month as an opportunity to get people talking about drinking and its impact on individuals, families, and communities. At any given time, about 70% of adult Americans have drank in the last year. While small amounts of alcohol may be healthy for the heart, drinking can become dangerous in even moderate amounts. There is a surprising amount of misunderstanding around the most consumed substance in America, starting with what the actual definition of an “alcoholic” is. Read on to familiarize yourself with some common alcohol-related definitions, and some worrying trends in Kentucky in particular.

Alcohol Use Disorder , or the clinical definition of alcoholism, is defined as any pattern of drinking that causes harm or distress. It can be classified as mild, moderate, or severe. Nationwide, about 15 million adults met the criteria for AUD in 2015.

Risky Drinking . Of the Americans who have ever drank, about 1/3 have engaged in so-called “risky drinking” at some point in their lives. Although there isn’t an “official” definition of risky drinking, it could be thought of as people who are putting themselves at a greater risk of accident, injury, assault, or other negative consequences of excessive drinking. For women, this means about 3 or more drinks in a sitting, or 7 in a week. For men, it’s estimated to be 4 a day or 14 a week respectively.

Binge Drinking. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) collects data on the drinking habits of Americans, and has defined binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to .08 or higher.” For women, this typically happens by drinking more than 4 drinks in 2 hours; for men it’s about 5 drinks in the same timespan. The Substance Abuse Services Administration has an almost identical definition: “drinking 5 or more drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the past month.”

Heavy Drinking. The NIAAA defines heavy drinking as “drinking 5 or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days.”  

For Kentucky, this month affords a specific chance to talk about how large of an impact drinking is having on our local health and safety.  According to a University of Washington study , the use of alcohol in Kentucky has increased noticeably in the last decade. Kentucky had one of the highest rates of binge drinking in the nation , and it had the highest percent increase in drinking of any other state in the country during the previous ten years.

To stay healthy, make sure you’re not exceeding “moderate” drinking limits or drinking while pregnant, avoid driving after drinking any alcohol, and always talk to your children (and young adults) about the dangers of binge and heavy drinking.   

If you are someone you know is struggling with any addition please call us at
502-451-1221. Our team is here to help!