More Middle Aged Men Dying from Alcohol Poisoning Than Teens

It's not under-aged teen's or over zealous college kids that make up the greatest portion of America's alcohol poisoning death rate, but middle aged men, reports the CDC. Alcohol poisoning claims about 6 deaths a day, and shockingly, the vast majority of those who perish--some 76%--were aged 35-64. Comparatively, only 15% of those who died from the effects of heavy alcohol consumption were in the 25-34 bracket, and only 5% were younger men 15-24. With alcohol having deep roots in America's social scene, and heavy importance placed on it in youth culture, the figures are undoubtedly startling; especially if we assume wisdom, moderation, lessening of social and cultural pressures, and greater health concerns are part of the age package.

The answer seems to lie in consistent binge drinking. Recent research about binge drinking (consuming 4 or more drinks) shows many parallels with alcohol poisoning deaths. The binge drinking populace tend to be white men, and deaths are especially concentrated in rural communities where access to immediate medical care is harder to come by. That's not to say those living in rural communities are more likely to binge drink, they are actually on par with urban communities but with limited resources to deal with the effects of consuming too much alcohol. Additional factors could be a greater social norm towards binge drinking at a younger age; youth age 12-17 show a slightly elevated rate of binge drinking (9.2%) compared to large metropolitan areas (6.9%). The effects of underemployment, poverty and isolation in some rural communities likely attribute to this proclivity towards binge drinking, especially as tighter social groups found in schools or work places fall away.


LA Times, 2015