SAMHSA’s 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

Current alcohol use among youth ages 12 to 20

• The 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that the level of underage drinking, ages 12 to 20, has remained unchanged since 2002, at 28.3 percent.


Current Alcohol Use Among Persons Aged 12 to 20, by Gender: 2002–2006

Binge drinking and heavy drinking

• Approximately 7.2 million underage youth aged 12 to 20 (19 percent) were binge drinkers. Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks on the same occasion at least 1 day in the 30 days prior to the survey.
  
  
• Among those aged 12 to 20, heavy drinking was reported by 2.4 million (6.2 percent). Heavy drinking is defined as binge drinking on at least 5 days in the past 30 days.
  
  

Underage drinking and ethnic/racial patterns

• Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2006, Asians and Blacks had the lowest rates of past-month alcohol use. Only 7.6 percent of Asian youths and 10.5 percent of Black youths were current drinkers, while 15.3 percent of Hispanic youths, 16.2 percent of those reporting two or more races, 19.2 percent of White youths, and 20.5 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native youths were current drinkers.
  
  

Underage drinking among college students

• Young adults aged 18 to 22 enrolled full time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time (i.e., part-time college students and persons not currently enrolled in college) to use alcohol in the past month, binge drink, or drink heavily.
  
  
• Binge and heavy-use rates for college students were 45.5 and 19 percent, respectively, compared with 38.4 and 13.3 percent, respectively, for 18- to 22-year-olds not enrolled full time in college.
  
  

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking

Underage drinking — age at first use

• Youth who report drinking before the age of 15 are more likely than those who begin drinking later in life to have other substance abuse problems during adolescence; to engage in risky sexual behavior; and to be involved in car crashes, unintentional injuries, and physical fights after drinking, both during adolescence and in adulthood.
  
  
• Approximately 10 percent of 9- to 10-year-olds have started drinking. Nearly one-third of youth begin drinking before age 13.
  
  
• By age 15, approximately 50 percent of boys and girls have had a whole drink of alcohol; by age 21, approximately 90 percent have done so.
  
  
• Alcohol is the drug of choice among America’s adolescents, used by more young people than tobacco or illicit drugs.
  
  
• Adolescents generally obtain alcohol from adults who sell it to them, purchase it on their behalf, or allow them to attend or give parties where alcohol is served.
  
  

Underage drinking and adolescent development

• Underage drinking can cause alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain. New research indicates that the developing adolescent brain may be particularly susceptible to long-term consequences from alcohol use.
  
  
• Some studies find that adolescents who drink heavily may experience adverse effects that disrupt normal growth and affect liver, bone, and endocrine development.