Since when is binge drinking healthy? Examining the discrepancies between binge drinking and importance of health to first year fraternity and sorority pledges

Background: Binge drinking is a pervasive problem among United States college students with roughly 45% of college students self-reporting binge drinking at least once every two weeks. This complex behavior has also been linked to an increased risk of negative health outcomes including death in an estimated 1,700 US college students annually. Although much research has been done to combat binge drinking in college students, rates have remained high for the past several decades. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between importance of health, perception of weight, and binge drinking behaviors with first-year fraternity and sorority pledges. Methods: We surveyed all new greek-affiliated pledges during the first month of the fall semester at a large southeastern university. Our sample consisted of 1,373 college students, 69.0% of which were female. Results: In this study, we found that 61.7% of students report binge drinking two or more times in the last two weeks. However, 83.3% of students who reported binge drinking indicated that they thought their health was important or very important. Chi-Square analyses revealed a significant relationship between importance of health and binge drinking status (Chi Square=28.3, p<.001). There was no significant association between binge status and perception of general health status. Conclusion: Findings emphasize the critical need to examine the contradictory association between student's health perception, their understanding of a healthy lifestyle, and their actual health behaviors. Colleges should include alcohol reduction messages in overall health programming.