Quad-Cities counties rank high in drinking reports

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Doctors have long recommended no more than two drinks a day for men and one for women.

But new federal guidelines released this week do away with the recommendations and instead urge Americans to limit alcohol in general.

TV6 Investigates looked deeper into data and learned that many Quad-Citians are already drinking much more than what doctors recommend.

Binge drinking rates have been declining over the past two years, according to Gallup. But about 1 in 5 Quad-Citians still drink enough to harm their health.

That typically means drinking beyond .08 or having more than four drinks a day.

In the Iowa Quad-Cities, Louisa County tops the list, where 27% of adults drink excessively. In the Illinois Quad-Cities, it’s Henry County at 23%.

Those rates are comparable with some of the highest-drinking counties in the nation, including Wisconsin, which typically leads the country in the number of binge drinkers.

Rates for other counties in the Quad-Cities:

Rock Island 21%

Whiteside 21%

Henry 23%

Mercer 22%

Henderson 22%

Warren 21%

Carroll 22%

Jo Daviess 23%

Bureau 22%

Knox 21%

Jackson 24%

Clinton 25%

Scott 23%

Muscatine 26%

Louisa 27%

Des Moines 22%

Henry 22%

Regardless of the number of drinks you consume, most doctors recommend limiting alcohol because of its ties to at least seven cancers.