Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. Binge  drinking  is  common among  active  duty  military  personnel. That's  according  to  a  new  study  released  by the  University  of  Minnesota  and the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention. In  the  study  involving  more than  16,000  military  personnel, binge  drinking  was  reported  by 43%  of  military  personnel  during  the  past  month. How  does  one  define  binge  drinking? Lead  author  of  the  study,  Mandy  Star, a  University  of  Minnesota  Phd  student,  explains. So  binge  drinking  is  defined  as  consuming four  or  more  drinks  on  one  occasion  for  a  woman, or  five  or  more  drinks  on  one  occasion  for  a  man. The  problem  of  binge  drinking among  active  duty  personnel  has  been documented  in  previous  surveys  over  the  past  20  years. And  as  with  all  self  reported  surveys, both  binge  drinking  and  a  lot  of the  related  consequences  are  generally  under  reported. Star  says  the  study  shows  that binge  drinking  is  a  significant  public  health  problem. And  the  military  may  be  in  a  unique  position to  help  reduce  this  problem  in  the  general  population. Particularly  given  that  nearly  13%  of  US. Adults  report  current  or  past  military  service. Some  of  the  effective  evidence based  strategies  to  prevent binge  drinking  include  increasing  alcohol  excise  taxes, maintaining  and  enforcing the  age  21  minimum  legal  drinking  age. And  screening  and  counseling  for alcohol  misuse  with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.