Health

Gender talk battles the binge

Held every Wednesday in the Women’s Resource Center, gender talks welcome new and familiar faces on a regular basis.  |  Maritza Rodriguez/The Daily Cougar

Held every Wednesday in the Women’s Resource Center, gender talks welcome new and familiar faces on a regular basis. | Maritza Rodriguez/ The Daily Cougar

Drinking is a large part of many college and high school students’ social lives, but too much alcohol may have some consequences.

The Women’s Resource Center kicked off the semester by discussing binge drinking at their first weekly Gender Talk. WRC director Beverly McPhail discussed with students how binge drinking can be a serious problem to women’s health.

Women should be more educated about alcohol and know the limits of their bodies.

“We need to educate women and let them know that it can be a problem,” McPhail said.

“They need to be aware of health benefits, drinking and the consequences of drinking.”

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that women who binge drink could create a dangerous habit. A woman’s body responds to alcohol differently than a man’s. Alcohol can lead women to have unintended pregnancies. It also increases their risk of being exposed to violence, alcoholism and chronic diseases.

According to the study, women who have a high household income are more likely to drink. This is because they have more money to spend on alcohol and cars to drive to liquor stores.

Peer pressure also leads women into situations where they end up drinking more than what they can handle. Alcohol is used in a community to socialize at parties or events. Women consume more drinks to be attractive to men.

The study defined binge drinking for women as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks on an occasion.

Public health senior Latasha Micheaux says the study should be more detailed, explaining how women metabolize alcohol based on their body size or the type of drinks being consumed.

“Different people from different cultures and body sizes can deal with alcohol differently,” Micheaux said.

The study also found that binge drinking usually starts among high school-aged students. Girls who begin to binge drink at an early age are more likely to continue in their college life. Parents should take an active role in teaching their children how to control their limits and who to drink with.

“It is really good to learn your alcohol limit at an early age,” Micheaux said. “Once you turn 21, experiment with close friends or family members — anyone you can trust, so you won’t be taken advantage of (in the future).”

UH offers many programs where students can talk to counselors about alcoholism. The Intent and Motivation: Alcohol Group Exercise program helps cohorts such as residential life, sororities, fraternities and athletes talk about alcohol prevention.

“We do have resources here on campus. I hope that Gender Talk can help students deal with their problems on not only binge drinking, but other issues as well,” McPhail said.

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