State data on alcohol consumption rates
among women of childbearing age in 2005

Monitoring Alcohol Use Among Women of Childbearing Age

CDC monitors the prevalence of alcohol use among women of childbearing age in the United States using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

The BRFSS is an ongoing, state-based, random-digit – dialed telephone survey of adults 18 years of age or older. Data from the BRFSS are important for monitoring alcohol use patterns in women of childbearing age to assess and inform public health efforts to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies by identifying populations at increased risk and designing prevention programs aimed at reducing risk behaviors and improving pregnancy outcomes.

To determine the potential number of women at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy, data from the BRFSS are analyzed for women 18 through 44 years of age in all 50 states. Women are asked about their use of alcohol during the 30 days before the survey. Three alcohol drinking patterns frequently are examined: any alcohol use (one or more drinks), binge drinking (five or more drinks on any one occasion)*, and frequent drinking (seven or more drinks per week and/or binge drinking).

These prevalence estimates vary from state to state and region to region. CDC publishes analyses of these data in peer reviewed journals and the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

To view your state’s alcohol consumption rates among women of childbearing age in 2005, click here.

*In 2006, the definition of binge drinking for women was changed to four or more drinks on any one occasion
______________________________________________________________________