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Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023

Do Wisconsin residents report excessively drinking more alcohol than those in other states?

Erin Gretzinger, Wisconsin Watch
yes

In 2022, 24/7 Wall St. ranked Wisconsin as the nation's "drunkest" state based on self-reporting, with 25.2% of Wisconsin residents drinking excessively. In 2021, 41 of the 50 most heavily drinking counties were located in Wisconsin.

The state and county rankings are based on data from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Excessive drinking is defined as adults who reported heavy or binge drinking within the previous 30 days. Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on a single occasion. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming more than one drink per day on average for a woman or consuming more than two drinks per day for a man.

Wisconsin also ranks high in total alcohol consumption per capita at 8th in the nation, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

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