Sober Salt Lake? Utah city not No. 1 on list of moderation capitals

Mirror, mirror on a lonely barkeep's wall, which is the soberest city of them all?

Not Salt Lake City, according to The Daily Beast.

The most sober crown went to Nashville, Tenn., even though more drinks are consumed monthly (8.92) per person than in Salt Lake (7.18). In fact, a study by Experian Simmons found only Chattanooga, Tenn., has fewer monthly drinks per capita (6) than Salt Lake.

The reason the Daily Beast named Nashville the moderation capital of America is that it performed better than Salt Lake City and Chattanooga in other categories.

For example, the percentage of heavy drinkers is higher in SLC (3.5 percent) than Nashville (2.4).

Salt Lake also has more binge drinkers (11.8 percent of adults) than Nashville (7.9 percent), according to the Centers for Disease Control. Deaths from liver disease caused by alcohol in each city were virtually the same.

Of course, Utah still boasts BYU, which has been the No. 1 stone-cold sober university in the nation for 13 consecutive years. BYU is located in Provo, which wasn't included on its own for the Daily Beast rankings.

All but two of the top 10 dry capitals on the Daily Beast list were in the south. The two outliers were Salt Lake City and No. 6 Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The website tied its rankings to Lent, an annual Christian season which many celebrate by giving up something like a favorite food or activity. Some give up something they do that they consider a bad habit, a vice or a sin.

Lent began with Ash Wednesday this week and continues until Easter week. This year's Lent is marked by a the United Methodist Church's call on its 7 million members to remain alcohol-free or the 40 days.

The church-wide call comes a couple of years after a UMC congregation in North Carolina took up the challenge and enjoyed good results, said the Rev. Cynthia Abrams, director of UMC General Board of Church & Society's work area on Alcohol, Other Addictions & Health Care, in a church release.

Lent is about preparation for baptism and renewing baptismal commitment, according to Catholic.org

e-mail: twalch@desnews.com