COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The number of heavy boozers in Branch County is about average compared to the rest of the state of Michigan.
An estimated 20 percent of Michigan adults fit the definition of “excessive drinkers” as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control. That’s according to MLive, which this week published its extensive review of the most recent health surveys including those taken by the CDC.
In Branch County, according to MLive, an estimated 19.9% of adults are “excessive” drinkers, based on weighted data. That percentage includes those who fit the CDC definition of binge drinkers, such as men who consume five or more drinks or women who have four or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month. It also includes adults who fit the definition of a “heavy” drinker, men who consume more than two drinks daily or 14 drinks a week or women who have more than one drink daily or more than seven drinks a week.
Branch County ranked 38th out of Michigan’s 83 counties in its number of “excessive drinkers”. The ranking of counties is based on results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual phone survey conducted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Number one in the state is Isabella County at 23% while Arenac County had the fewest such drinkers at 15.9%.
