Texas is famous for its BBQ, cowboys, oil, and free-spirited people. However, a lesser-known truth about it is that it is home to one of the country’s most inebriated metro regions.
The Austin-Round Rock metro region has the highest percentage of adults reporting excessive drinking in Texas, placing 26th out of 384 metro areas globally, according to a 24/7 Tempo analysis. This blog digs into the elements that contributed to this rating, as well as the potential repercussions and remedies.
Understanding Issues With Excessive Drinking
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heavy drinking and binge drinking are both types of drinking too much.
Women who binge drink four or more drinks in a single sitting and men who binge drink five or more drinks in a single sitting are considered heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers have eight or more drinks per week and women have fifteen or more drinks per week.
In the United States, about 19.0% of people regularly drink too much. 24/7 Tempo looked at data from the 2020 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps to find the states and major areas with the highest and lowest rates.
The Austin-Round Rock Comparison
Texas is ranked 20th, with a 19.5% excessive drinking rate that is somewhat higher than the national average. Austin-Round Rock leads the state, with 23.4% of adults reporting excessive drinking, or roughly one in every four people.
Despite having the greatest proportion in Texas, it ranks 26th nationally. Travis County, which is part of the Austin-Round Rock metro region, has the highest prevalence of excessive drinking in Texas at 25.1%.
Examining alcohol-related driving deaths finds that alcohol is involved in 29.8% of such accidents in the Austin-Round Rock area, above both the national and state rates. Hays County, which is also part of the metro region, has the highest percentage of alcohol-related driving deaths in Texas, at 38.5%.
Alcohol Report: Risks, Costs, and Implications
The high rate of heavy drinking in the Austin-Round Rock metro area is caused by several things, such as the area’s population, society, business, and easy access to alcohol.
With a median age of 35.6, the area has a lot of young people, which makes drinking with friends more common. A thriving economy with a low jobless rate of 2.7% and exciting cultural events like South by Southwest may also help.
Even with these things in mind, drinking too much is very dangerous for both people and the group as a whole, causing health, social, and economic issues.
Violence, crashes, and alcohol poisoning are some of the short-term risks. Long-term effects include alcoholism, chronic diseases, and mental health problems. The effects on society are felt in the economy as well, with prices put at $249 billion per year.
Alcohol Report: Solutions and Recommendations
To address excessive drinking, a multifaceted strategy including people, families, communities, health experts, lawmakers, and the alcohol industry is required. Among the evidence-based techniques are:
- Increasing alcohol taxes and pricing has been demonstrated to lower alcohol use, particularly among young and heavy drinkers.
- Limiting the availability and accessibility of alcohol: Strategies include limiting the number of alcohol outlets and enforcing the legal drinking age.
- Improving enforcement and compliance: It is critical to strictly enforce alcohol regulations, notably those prohibiting drunk driving and underage drinking.
- Screening and intervention promotion: Offering counseling and referral services to people who drink excessively, as well as assistance to those with alcohol use problems.
- Supporting community-based prevention requires raising awareness, teaching about the hazards, and fostering a healthy and safe environment.