A binge is a relatively short period of excessive behavior. For example, someone might go on an eating binge and consume an entire box of cookies and a whole bag of chips, or a shopping binge and buy many more items than the person can use or afford. Recently, binge drinking has become an increasing cause of concern. Dr. Henry Wechsler, the lead investigator of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, defined a binge episode as having five or more drinks on a single occasion for males, and four or more drinks on a single occasion for females. In this definition, a drink refers to the amount of alcohol found in a 12-ounce can or bottle of beer or wine cooler, a 4-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.25-ounce shot of liquor.

National surveys have used similar definitions to reveal patterns of drinking...