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Northeast > Resources > Topic Specific > Underage Drinking > Differing rates by geography, ethnicity, gender and age |
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How do recent underage drinking rates differ by geography, ethnicity, gender, and age? The information below was collected from various surveys and national databases sponsored by different federal agencies. Although ages and school grades vary from survey to survey, they range from ages 12 to 18 and from grades 8 through 12. Geography Results of the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NHSDA) indicate that underage (ages 12-17) lifetime alcohol use is highest in the Northeast and the Midwest (both at 44 percent), followed by the South (43 percent), and the West (41 percent). The survey also found that current alcohol use is more prevalent in the Northeast region (20 percent), followed by the Midwest (19 percent), South (17 percent) and West (17 percent). Gender Results from the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey—a national survey of high schools conducted by the CDC—indicated that underage drinking was more prevalent among male students than female students. However, as of 2003, rates of both lifetime and current use of alcohol were actually higher for females than males, though the gap was fairly narrow. Seventy-six percent of females reported using alcohol at least once in their lifetime versus 74 percent of males, and 46 percent of females reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days versus 44 percent of males. Males did report engaging in binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks in one occasion) in the past 30 days, at a slightly higher rate than females (29 percent for males versus 28 percent for females). Ethnicity/Race 2003 YRBS data show that overall underage drinking is more prevalent among Caucasian and Hispanic high school students than other students of other ethnic groups. Specifically, 80 percent of Hispanic students and 75 percent of Caucasian students reported having at least one drink in their lifetime, contrary to 68 percent of students who reported being from other ethnic groups and 71 percent of African American students. Also more Caucasian (47 percent) and Hispanic students (46 percent) reported having at least one drink in the previous 30 days than students from other ethnic groups (39 percent) and African American students (37 percent). Finally, binge drinking—five or more drinks in one occasion—was also reported more often by Caucasian (32 percent) and Hispanic (30 percent) students than students of other ethnic groups (23 percent) and African American students (15 percent). Age According to the 2003 YRBS survey 28 percent of students surveyed reported having their first drink before age 13. This was the lowest percentage in the past decade. Previously, the range of percentages of students who reported their first use before age 13 was between 30 and 33 percent between 1991 and 2001. The 2003 YRBS also reported that students in upper grades of high school (grades 11 and 12) were more likely to have had at least a drink once in their lifetime, at least once in last 30 days, and to binge drink in the last 30 days than students in grade 9.
For more information visit: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System; 2003 Information and Results: This page—part of CDC’s website—provides the user with useful information regarding the 2001 YRBS such as a map of participating states and cities and a summary of the results. In addition, the site also provides interactive access to YRBS reports and graphs. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm Monitoring the Future: This sites provides design information, results and reports of the Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan. http://monitoringthefuture.org National Survey on Drug Use & Health: This section of SAMHSA’s website provides the user with methodology information, reports and results of the NHSDA survey. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm Other Related Resources:
Underage drinking rates by State:
Please contact the Northeast CAPT at capt@edc.org for more information.
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