Data do not support ’mommy drinking’ concerns
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Although binge drinking has increased among mothers in the United States from 2006 to 2018, the increase was greater among women without children, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.
The results contradict media reports that convey binge drinking as an issue that uniquely affects mothers, according to researchers.
“Moms are often subject to increased scrutiny regarding their own health, and how their decisions impact the health of their children,” Sarah McKetta, MD, PhD candidate at Columbia Mailman School's Department of Epidemiology, said in a press release. "We found that public concern over 'mommy drinking' is not supported by the data.”
Previous research has shown that parents’ alcohol consumption can have effects on their parenting abilities and on their children’s health.
Due to increased alcohol consumption among women in recent years, the researchers explained that media attention has targeted mothers who drink and caused alarm about a possible “mommy drinking” epidemic.
McKetta and colleagues examined data from the National Health Interview Survey — a nationally representative face-to-face survey of U.S. households — from 2006 to 2018. Survey responses were used to determine family composition and alcohol use.
Binge drinking was defined as five or more drinks for anyone between 2006 and 2013. However, “per commonly accepted guidelines,” the definition changed after 2013 to four or more drinks in women and five or more drinks in men, according to the researchers. Heavy alcohol use was considered binge drinking five times in the last 30 days, or 60 or more binge drinking days in the last year.
Participants included in analyses were adults aged 18 to 55 years, to encompass the years when people are most likely to parent. Researchers grouped individuals aged 18 to 29 years, 30 to 44 years, and 45 to 55 years.
A total of 239,944 respondents were included in analyses, 46.1% of whom had children. Among respondents, 30.6% were binge drinkers, 3.6% were heavy drinkers, and 30.1% did not drink.
Researchers found that binge drinking increased among nearly all groups, except for young men aged 18 to 29 years who had children. The greatest increase was among women aged 30 to 44 years who did not have children, from 21% in 2006 to 42% in 2018.
Despite increases in binge drinking, heavy drinking remained stable or declined in all groups except women aged 45 to 55 years who did not have children (OR for heavy drinking each year = 1.06; 95% CI 1.02-1.1) and in women aged 30 to 44 years with children (single-year OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09) and without children (single-year OR = 1.03; 95% CI, 0.99-1.07).
Overall, men and women with children reported lower levels of drinking compared with those who did not have children.
“Although heavy drinking has either decreased or stabilized for most groups, binge drinking is still common and is becoming even more prevalent,” McKetta said in a press release. “It's still unknown why women are increasing drinking relative to men, but we encourage physicians to screen all adults — not just select groups of men and women — for alcohol use disorders and referring them to appropriate treatment.” – by Erin Michael
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.