A study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control shows that cellphone users are more likely to binge drink than other groups surveyed. The study points to the fact many people who use only their cellphone and don't have a landline are often young and male. Both young people (ages 18-34) and males typically report higher incidences of binge drinking compared to other groups.
In 2009, before cellphone-only users were incorporated in the study, 15.2 percent of the surveyed population reported binge drinking. In 2010, that number went up to 17.1 percent.
"Even after adjusting for age," the study says, "cellular telephone respondents have a higher prevalence of binge drinking than landline respondents."
Apparently, drinking alcohol can make you popular on social networking sites, or at least provide you with some hilarious photos. So why are cell phone users drinking more?
The CDC's study relies on self-reported data from a random telephone survey. Participants were asked if they ever drink alcohol. They were also asked how often they binge drink, which is four or more drinks for women and five or more for men, in a short period of time.
BRFSS is the state-based random telephone survey the CDC uses. In the past, only landlines were dialed. But in September 2011 the BRFSS released a set of survey data from 2010 that included both landlines and cellphone-only adults. Cellphone-only users who don't live in South Dakota or Tennessee (the two states not included in the survey), showed a nearly 2 percent increase in reported binge drinking.
"These findings confirm the importance of increasing the number of cellular telephone respondents in the BRFSS to assess binge drinking and related harms more accurately," notes the study.
The survey took responses from a total of 457,677 adults (422,039 landline respondents and 35,638 cellular telephone respondents).
Maybe these results could also shed some light on sexting?