Women are drinking more heavily, and alcohol is behind a growing number of their deaths, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal health data.
The number of white women dying from alcohol-related problems rose 130 percent nationwide since 1999; for Hispanic women, alcohol-related deaths grew by 30 percent in that same time frame. Federal health data shows the prevalence of binge drinking among women up by more than 40 percent since the late 1990s, leading to more ER visits and a growing number of accidents, injuries, and chronic diseases.
The spike coincides with a change in alcohol marketing, shifting its focus more towards women and encouraging them to escape stress by drinking.
Monday at 1 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, Brenda Iliff with the Hazeldon Betty Ford Addiction Treatment Center in Naples talks about alcohol use and abuse among women in Southwest Florida.
Also joining the program is Leslie Robinson with Cape Coral's Street Chicks in Recovery, a recovering alcohol who founded her organization to offer outreach and economic opportunity to women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction in Southwest Florida.
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