Why Be Concerned With Underage Alcohol Use1
- In 2008, about 10.1 million persons aged 12 to 20 (26.4 percent of this age
group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month.
- Approximately 6.6 million (17.4 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.1 million
(5.5 percent) were heavy drinkers.
- A majority of current underage drinkers in 2008 reported that their last use of
alcohol in the past month occurred either in someone else’s home (56.2 percent)
or their own home (29.6 percent).
- The good news is that the rates for current and binge alcohol use are lower
than they were in 2007, when they were 27.9 and 18.6 percent, respectively.
Rates of current, binge, and heavy alcohol use among underage persons declined between
2002 and 2008. Current use dropped from 28.8 to 26.4 percent;
binge use declined from 19.3 to 17.4 percent; and heavy use
declined from 6.2 to 5.5 percent.
However, there is still work to be done—alcohol continues to affect too many
of our youth. Underage alcohol use contributes to risky behaviors such as violence
and drunk driving as well as poor academic performance. Youth who use alcohol before
age 15 are 5 times more likely to become alcohol dependent than adults who began
drinking at age 21 and are at much higher risk for serious health consequences as
adults.
We can prevent the enormous toll that alcohol takes on our society—start talking
to your children about the consequences of underage alcohol use before they start
drinking.
1Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2009. Results
from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings
(electronic version). Retrieved from
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm#3.2
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