Binge Drinking

by Stephanie Watson

Overview

This title examines one of the world's critical issues, binge drinking. Readers will learn the historical background of this issue leading up to its current and future impact on society. What is binge drinking, binge drinking versus alcoholism, and the affects of binge drinking such as liver damage, decreased motor function, brain damage, weight gain, heart disease, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and alcohol poisoning are discussed in detail. Organizations that work to influence alcohol consumption such as the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), The Substance and Mental Health Services Administration, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) are introduced. Efforts to curb binge drinking by limiting sales, enacting legislation, raising the drinking age, increasing prices, and reducing availability are discussed. Community programs such as the Massachusetts Saving Lives Program, Project Northland, A Matter of Degree, and Communities That Care are covered. Engaging text, informative sidebars, and color photographs present information realistically, leaving readers with a thorough, honest interpretation of binge drinking. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index. Essential Issues is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617876547
Publisher:	ABDO Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Series:	Essential Issues Series: Set 3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

A quintessential overview of the newest trend in alcohol abuse. Binge drinking isn't only for frat boys anymore, as younger drinkers are more apt to participate in this form of over drinking. Alcohol has been around since 2000 BC and throughout time it has been used and abused. The Eighteenth Amendment tried to curtail the use of alcohol to no avail. People drink to celebrate, to forget their troubles or to fit into social situations. In 1930 a Yale University researcher, E. Morton Jellinek began to study problem drinking and concluded that it wasn't because of a moral weakness but more of a disease of dependence. Binge drinking does not go hand in hand with alcoholism. Many people who binge drink are often the occasional social drinker. In 1994 Henry Wechsler, a social psychologist from Harvard University coined the term "binge drinking" as consuming large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. The drinker is ultimately put at risk, as well as those around them. Five drinks for men and four drinks for women during a short timeframe were defined as "binge drinking." The writer shares stories about young lives cut short because of a onetime descent into binge drinking. Decisions are altered whenever alcohol is in play. Drunk driving, violence and casual sex are just a few of the consequences. A timeline presnts the history of alcohol, and essential facts are found in the glossary, index, additional resources and source notes. Reviewer: Toni Jourdan

Children's Literature - Toni Jourdan