As regards the consumption of alcohol, we found that 8% of females and 7% of the males reported that they did not drink any alcohol in the last 3 months preceding the survey. This compared low with the USA where 17% of the students reported never using alcohol (44). However, other reviews that were based on five different sources of data in order to estimate recent levels of alcohol (and other drug) use among college students in the USA, reported that almost one third had not had even a single drink in the prior 30 days (49). Conversely in our sample about 65% female and 76% male students had binged ≥5 drinks in a row in the last two weeks. Research (49) showed that 40% of college students in the 1999 MTF Monitoring the Future study (48) reported having engaged in heavy drinking at least once in the past 2 weeks.
Several studies in the USA have found that “approximately 2 of
5 American college students can be termed binge drinkers” (50,
p. 122). The recorded levels of binge drinking among female and
male students are extremely varied between studies (51), the variables
associated with binge drinking are many, and interestingly,
binge drinking could be associated with risky health behaviour
(tobacco consumption), and conversely also with positive health
behaviours (e.g. greater physical activity) (52). Whilst problem
drinking in our sample was about 21% females and 31% males,
others have reported that 15–25% of college students who drink
engage in heavy or problematic drinking (53, 54). As with the case
of illicit drug use (see above), the comparisons between findings
of different studies are complicated due to inconsistencies in the
terms employed to describe drinking behaviour (51). Nevertheless,
drinking alcohol in the period of college and university study
is an important social challenge that deserves research attention,
and the consequences and implications of binge and hazardous
drinking among young people including university students
comprise a challenge of shared international concern (55–57).