STATISTICS ON UNDERAGE DRINKING
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Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings (For references, see NIAAA’s publication
Alcohol Alert No. 67, Underage Drinking
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Drinking continues to be widespread among adolescents, as shown by nationwide surveys as well as studies in smaller populations. According to an annual survey of
U.S. youth, three-fourths of 12th graders, more than two-thirds of 10th graders, and about two in every five 8th graders have consumed alcohol. The survey is titled Monitoring the Future (MTF) and can be found online at
http://monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/vol1_2005.pdf.
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When youth drink they tend to drink intensively, often consuming four to five drinks at one time. MTF data show that 11 percent of 8th graders, 22 percent of 10th graders, and 29 percent of 12th graders had engaged in heavy episodic, or binge, drinking within the past two weeks. The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration [BAC] to 0.08 grams percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about 2 hours.)
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Data from NIAAA’s 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a survey of 43,000 U.S. adults, showed that early alcohol use, independent of other risk factors, may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol problems. Those who began drinking in their early teens were at greater risk of developing alcohol dependence at some point in their lives, and they were also at greater risk of developing dependence more quickly and at younger ages. The findings were reported in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Volume 160, pages 739-746.
