Epidemiology
Binge drinking is more common in men than it is in women. Among students in the US, approximately 50 percent of men and 39 percent of women binge drink. Racial differences exist among binge drinking with Hispanics followed by white people having the highest level of binge drinking. It is a common pattern among Native Americans.
Individuals of African descent have a lower level of binge drinking followed by those of Asian descent. In the case of Asians their low level of binge drinking may be due to the presence of the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (ALDH2, Chromosome 12) in many (but by no means the vast majority) that results in poor metabolism of alcohol which leads to severe adverse effects such as facial flushing. Men are more likely to binge drink (up to 81 percent of alcohol binges are done by men) than women and men are also more likely to develop alcohol dependence than women. People who are homozygous for the ALDH2 gene are less likely to binge drink due to severe adverse effects which occur even with moderate amounts of alcohol consumption.
Read more about this topic: Binge Drinking