San Antonio Tops List of Drunken Cities

[GermanStar]

FRIDAY, April 2 (HealthDayNews) -- In San Antonio, they remember the Alamo but forget when to say when.

The metropolitan area around the historic Texas city has the highest rate of binge drinking -- imbibing till you're drunk -- in the entire United States, according to a new federal study. Other hotspots for booze consumption include the Midwest (particularly the Dakotas and Iowa) and Nevada, while teetotalers rule the roost in Mormon-dominated Utah as well as Chattanooga, Tenn.

So do booze-happy cities deserve a bad rap? That's not the point of the research, said study co-author Dr. Timothy S. Naimi, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It's not to say they're bad people. This just points out that that kind of level [of drinking] is associated with bad things like injuries, interpersonal violence and unprotected or unplanned sexual encounters," he said.

Naimi and his colleagues examined two national health surveys from 1997 and 1999 and compared the results from 120 metropolitan areas in 48 states and Washington, D.C. They looked for people who reported binge drinking -- for men, downing five or more drinks at one time; for women, four drinks -- at least once in the past 30 days.

"The net effect of drinking five or more drinks in a short amount of time is that everyone will be impaired," Naimi said. "Drinking at that level tends to be associated with problems."

The researchers found that an average of 14.5 percent of adults surveyed were binge drinkers, with the highest level in San Antonio (23.9 percent). Of the 20 metropolitan areas with the highest levels of binge drinking, 17 are in the Midwest, Texas and Nevada.

After San Antonio at No. 1, the top 10 metropolitan areas, in descending order, are: Grand Forks, N.D.; Milwaukee; Austin, Texas; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Davenport, Iowa.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa.; Duluth, Minn.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Springfield, Mass. (Some of the metropolitan areas include residents in more than one state and more than one city.)

In the top three metropolitan areas -- San Antonio, Grand Forks and Milwaukee -- an estimated one third of adult men are binge drinkers.

Chattanooga residents reported the lowest level of binge drinking (4.1 percent). The study didn't rank other alcohol-averse metropolitan areas in order, but the driest regions include Arizona, most of the South (with the exceptions of Texas and Louisiana), and Ohio.

Utah is on list of dry states, too, but its residents who do drink tend to imbibe more than those in other states, according to the study.

Naimi said religious and cultural factors may be at play. Utah and the South report lower levels of overall binge drinking, and it may be no coincidence that Mormons in Utah and Southern Baptists in the South frown on alcohol, he said. "Another contributing factor is that prices and tax rates in different parts of the country vary," he added.

Overall, young men -- and men in general -- report more binge drinking, Naimi said. Whites and Latinos, meanwhile, report more boozing than blacks.

[MTI]

I wonder if this list changes whenever they change the venue for the Final Four.

[R Leo]

Remember also that San Antonio received recognition for being the nation's 'sweatiest city'.

It absolutely preposterous to think that San Antonio could be both the sweatiest and the drinkingest city in the country. What happened to New Orleans and Houston? Plenty of drinking and sweating goes on in both of those places.

I'd be willing to bet that this deal was rigged just like that 'election' back in 2000.

[GermanStar]

I wonder if some Milwaukee residents are displeased about not winning the top prize...... :p

[G-Benz]

Originally posted by GermanStar
I wonder if some Milwaukee residents are displeased about not winning the top prize...... :p

Milwaukee is prohibited as it's considered "professional drinking" status...

[GermanStar]

Originally posted by G-Benz
Milwaukee is prohibited as it's considered "professional drinking" status...

[lietuviai]

I'll drink to that!

[Botnst]

Binge drinking is "imbibing until your drunk".

Who defines, "drunk". If its self-defined then that explains NOLA not being on there. Most common phrase on Bourbon Street, "Honest officer, I ain't drunk."

The 2000 election was almost stolen, that's for sure. Thankfully, the courts prevented selective recounting until a certain contestant found the most favorable combination.
B

[GermanStar]

I must admit, New Orleans' conspicuous absence from this list does throw its validity into question.

I'm glad they took the heat off of us over here in Austin. I live on my boat a few days a week during the Spring and Summer over on Lake Travis and it seems it is all we do all day.

Citrus717

[TX76513]

Originally posted by GermanStar
I must admit, New Orleans' conspicuous absence from this list does throw its validity into question.

New Orleans is a "Drinking City with a Partying Problem"

God I love that town - I can hear the Buckweat Zydeco now

[KirkVining]

Originally posted by GermanStar
I must admit, New Orleans' conspicuous absence from this list does throw its validity into question.

Its also odd they didn't include Alberquerque either. You can't walk the streets for five minutes and not be accosted by panhandlers, and passed out drunks are everywhere.