Teens Drinking Too Much in US
Medical Authors and Editors: Barbara
K. Hecht, Ph.D. and Frederick
Hecht, M.D.
Sept. 16, 2004 -- About 12% of 8th graders have had five
or more drinks on a single occasion within the past 2 weeks, according to a
report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And about 29% of 12th graders have had five or more
drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks.
Underage drinking in the US peaked in the
70's, went down in the 80's, and stayed stuck on a disturbingly high plateau in
the 90s, states the NIH report on "Trends in Drinking Among Americans
Age 18 and Younger: 1975-2002."
The report by Vivian Faden and Michael Fay
is in this month's issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical &
Experimental Research. The abstract by Drs. Faden and Fay reads as follows:
Background: Although changes
over time in the prevalence of drinking by youth under 18 have been previously
reported, we present results based on data from multiple surveys, using recently developed software for trend
analyses. In this study, we applied joinpoint statistical methodology to three
national data sets to analyze trends in drinking by youth, age 18 and under, for
the period 1975 to 2002.
Methods: Information was obtained from three national data sets,
Monitoring the Future for the years 1975 to 2002, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey
for the years 1991 to 2001, and the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse for
1979, 1985, and 1991 to 2001.
Approximately 80,000 persons between 12 and 18 were
included in the most recent survey years. The alcohol consumption measures examined over time were
any use of alcohol, consumption of five or more drinks on one occasion, and
daily consumption.
Results: Alcohol consumption by 8th, 10th and 12th graders decreased
substantially since the 1970s according to joinpoint trend analyses. It remains
disturbingly high, however, according to data from three national surveys (e.g.,
12.4% of 8th and 28.6% of 12th graders drinking five or more drinks in a row in
the past 2 weeks), although prevalence rates have been relatively stable for the
last 5 to 10 years.
Conclusions: Since the early 1990s, rates of drinking by youth under
18 remained relatively stable according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and moved up and then down according to
Monitoring the Future, underscoring the need for continued surveillance and
enhanced understanding of this long-standing problem.
Our Comments: We think that the failure to reduce underage drinking
since the 1980s is worrisome. Five drinks at one occasion is a lot for an adult.
For an eighth-grader it is shocking.
The trends over time are interesting. Underage drinking peaked in the 70's,
declined in the 80's, and stayed on a disturbingly high plateau in the 90s. What
was different about the 80s?
One thing was Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program in
the 80s. This may have seemed uselessly naive at the time but it did draw more
attention to
alcohol and drug prevention. When is the last time you saw an alcohol-prevention
commercial on TV?
We believe that the US needs to pay much more attention to the many serious
problems we have within our country today such as underage drinking.
For additional information please visit the following MedicineNet.com areas:
Last Editorial Review: 9/16/2004
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