One of every five high school girls binge drink, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—a ratio that translates into millions of female teens consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol. “Although binge drinking is more of a problem among men and boys, binge drinking is an important and under-recognized women’s health issue,” according to CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. While binge drinking among teen males has dipped in recent years, the rate of binge drinking among girls has been disturbingly consistent. All that drinking (classified by the CDC as consuming four or more drinks at one sitting for girls) can have deadly consequences. About 23,000 deaths of women can be attributed to excessive alcohol use. More than half of those deaths were caused by binge drinking. (CNN)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.