Like most ladies I know, I enjoy the occasional glass of wine after work. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of drinking. In fact, science has basically proven that one unit of alcohol a day is good for you (and this can be anything from red wine to even a shot of tequila). While there's nothing wrong with this scenario, there IS something really scary that is happening in our community: Latinas are binge drinking at an alarming rate. In fact, it's gotten so bad that more women than ever are actually dying from excessive drinking!
Read more in ¿Qué más? Being Latina IS a risk factor for heart disease, despite new study
According to Fox News Latino, a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that binge drinking is now a major issue among women and young girls. Officials are concerned because too much alcohol is a "major risk factor for alcohol-exposed pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, breast cancer and heart disease."
The fact that we're Latinas already makes us at a higher risk for heart disease and, if you're a binge drinker, you're only making the problem worse. The CDC has identified that Latinas are one of the groups at risk, particularly in high school girls and young women. Does this mean that our daughters are at higher risk of binge drinking when in high school or college? It definitely seems so.
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So what's the reason for all of this increase in drinking? Kathryn A. Cunningham, Director of the Center for Addiction Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch, believes that part of the reason is the growing popularity of "girly" drinks. She tells them:
The serious impact of binge drinking is truly interesting when placed in the context of the lack of prevention tools to prevent these behaviors and in the face of marketing of alcohol to female audiences. It's slated to elevate the attractiveness of drinking, such as Eva Longoria's advertisements for Nuvo, a fruity high-alcohol beverage in a hot pink bottle.
Of course, we can't just blame pretty pink drinks for this growing problem. Still, it's definitely something to keep an eye out—and definitely an issue we should talk about with our daughters and, of course, keep a watch on for ourselves. I certainly don't want to end up giving myself heart disease because of a few drinks!
Image via stopalcoholdeaths/flickr
