Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Albuquerque Tribune
A study that shows declining rates of binge drinking in New Mexico might not be cause for celebration.
The state came in 38th overall in a 2007 ranking of healthy states by the United Health Foundation. That's a bit better than last year, when the state came in 40th.
And in binge drinking, the state was ranked the 10th lowest out of 50 states, with 13 percent of the population engaging in the practice.
But some experts find that statistic odd in a state that's known for its problems with alcoholism and drunken driving.
"The number is surprisingly low for New Mexico," said Terry Huertaz, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "Our statistics have always been focused on crashes, fatalities, and our state is in a slight decline, but we still have a lot of work to do."
The binge drinking data were gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But state experts aren't so sure about their overall relevance in the fight against alcoholism, said Karen Armitage, chief medical officer for the state Department of Health.
"While it looks like we're not doing terribly badly around binge drinking, we have some outcomes that make us question whether that's cause for celebration," Armitage said.
"We still have violent deaths, vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides. These types of violent deaths are often tied to alcoholism and drugs."
And by drunken driving statistics, it seems the binge drinking rates - measured by a person having five or more drinks in one sitting - aren't all that low, Huertaz said.
"The average person arrested for drunken driving is twice the legal limit - so there's some serious drinking going on," Huertaz said.
The state also ranked well in its low prevalence of cancer deaths and obesity, although the obesity number is a bit deceptive, Armitage said.
In 1990, the state ranked sixth, with 9.8 percent of the population meeting the criteria for obesity. In 2007, the state ranked 11th lowest, with 22.9 percent of the population meeting the criteria.
"So the rate has almost doubled, and we're still doing better than a lot of other states," Armitage said. "All states have the same problem with obesity. We're all getting fatter."
New Mexico's rates are likely lower than others because of the mild climate and ample opportunities for outdoor activities, she said.
On the negative side, the report found a high rate of uninsured population at 22.9 percent; a high percentage of children living in poverty at 23.2 percent; and a low rate of access to adequate prenatal care.
That information is relatively similar to problems for other Southwestern states with rural populations, such as Arizona, Armitage said.
"One by one we're addressing the issues, but New Mexico has to struggle with geographic distances, poverty and limited access to health care," Armitage said.
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