College students aren’t the only ones with alcohol on the brain.
A study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that an average of six people die of alcohol poisoning each day in the U.S., and three out of four of these deaths are among men ages 35 to 64.
Alicia Baker, a GatorWell health promotion specialist, said she was shocked only because many professionals focus on the traditional college-age population when doing alcohol-related research and calculating death and injury rates.
“Binge drinking is seen more frequently in 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds, yet many of those that binge drink are not physiologically dependent on alcohol,” Baker said.
But, she said, the results weren’t otherwise surprising.
“It shows that behaviors picked up in earlier ages, such as binge drinking in college, can affect health outcomes as you get older,” she said.
Carlos Hernandez, a Counseling and Wellness Center counselor, said this study doesn’t mean college students aren’t drinking.
“Just because the study found more deaths due to alcohol poisoning among older people, it doesn’t mean that college students are drinking less,” Hernandez said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/9/2015 under the headline “Study shows older age group more likely to die of alcohol poisoning"]
