ABSTRACT
Background: Alcohol consumption is a major public health problem worldwide. In 2012, about 3.3million deaths were attributed to alcohol consumption. DALY attributed to alcohol consumption is 139 million. Ad-olescence is the critical period when the first initiation of alcohol intake takes place. Sixteen percent of drink-ers of age more than 15yrs engage in heavy episodic drinking. Due to change in lifestyle a considerable num-ber of social drinking have shifted to binge drinking. Objectives: To know the prevalence of binge drinking among health institution students in Bagalkot. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 380 health institution students. Five different cadre of health institutions were taken, one medical, one dental, one Ayurveda, one nursing and one Pharmacy College. A pre designed, semi structured ques-tionnaires were used. The results were analysed by chi square test. Results: Among total 380 participants, 68% were girls and 32% were boys. Majority of the respondents were staying away from home (83%). More than one fifth (20.53%) of respondents had tasted alcohol at least once, of which more than one third (37.18%) were female. Prevalence of binge drinking was 3.16%. Among binge drinkers, 58.33% had at least one of their family members who consumed alcohol. Conclusion: Existence of risk behaviour like binge drinking among students were seen and it demands integrated approach. Increased awareness among parents and also the respondents is needed to prevent adolescent behaviours from becoming a risk to their health and community.