The majority of Roosevelt High School students do not drink alcohol or use marijuana

Earlier today, I posted information about substance abuse rates among Nathan Hale High School sophomores and seniors.  Below are two charts that show the substance abuse rates among Roosevelt 10th and 12th grade students between 2006-10

Since 2006, current alcohol use rates declined significantly among Roosevelt sophomores and seniors.   All rates are now below 50% . . . this means that the majority of Roosevelt students do not drink alcohol or use marijuana.

Source: Washington State Healthy Youth Survey

The majority of Nathan Hale High School students do not drink alcohol or use marijuana

In an earlier post, I reported that underage drinking rates among northeast Seattle high school students (Nathan Hale and Roosevelt High Schools) have decreased significantly since 2006.  Below are two charts that show the substance abuse rates among Nathan Hale 10th and 12th grade students between 2006-10.

Among Nathan Hale sophomores, use of all substances and binge drinking declined since 2006.  All substance abuse (except for the abuse of prescription painkillers) declined since 2008 among Hale seniors.

All rates are now below 50% . . . this means that the marjority of Hale students do not drink alcohol or use marijuana.   

Source: Washington State Healthy Youth Survey

Adolescents' alcoholic beverage preferences are shifting from beer to distilled spirits

Distilled spirits are becoming more popular among adolescent drinkers and are challenging beer as the alcoholic beverage most likely consumed by underage drinkers, especially among youth who report binge drinking, according to a recent Health and Human Services report to Congress.  Flavored alcoholic beverages are also popular.

The charts above show the alcoholic beverages of choice among female and male high school seniors who drink.  The red line represents flavored alcoholic beverages, the dark blue line represents beer, and the light blue line with squares represents distilled spirits. 

According to the report, beverage preferences vary somewhat by state.  Data from four states indicated that, among high school students who reported binge drinking, liquor was the most prevalent alcoholic beverage type.

Alcohol marketing influences adolescent binge drinking

Two-thirds of underage drinkers report having a favorite brand of alcohol, according to the results of a recent study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.  Hard alcohol brands were identified as favorites as often as beer.  "Brands preferred by youth tended to have high advertising expenditures, and choosing a favorite brand was associated with binge drinking." 

The article concludes, "The correlation between underage drinkers' brand preference and marketing expenditures suggests a marketing influence on choice of beverage. Moreover, higher rates of binge drinking among adolescents who named a favorite brand suggest that alcohol advertising campaigns may influence the likelihood that alcohol will be consumed at levels that pose a risk to health."

More about alcohol marketing and youth is available at the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth's website.

Adolescent health care providers call for binge drinking prevention activities

The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) is hosting their annual meeting in Seattle this week and I was looking at their website and came across their October 2010 press release about binge drinking.  Following are a few excerpts:

In light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recently released report on binge drinking among high school students and adults in the United States in 2009, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) called today for strong and directed action by health care professionals, community and policy leaders, local officials, schools, religious groups and community members to develop and implement programs and policies to curb the rise in binge drinking among adolescents and young adults in the United States.

“This report reaffirms,” said Dr. William Adelman, Chair of SAHM’s Alcohol and Drug subcommittee, “that binge drinking is a particularly serious problem for adolescents as well as adults in the United States but that the majority of underage drinkers are apparently learning to drink alcohol with the expressed goal of intoxication. It is no surprise then, that binge drinking disproportionately affects those in high school and then through age 25, too often with tragic outcomes.”

. . . community-based interventions such as those recommended in the Guide to Community Preventive Services are recommended resources for broader efforts.

Among the interventions recommended in the guide are:
-- Increasing alcohol taxes
-- Maintaining limits on days of sale
-- Maintaining limits on hours of sale
-- Regulation of alcohol outlet density
-- Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting sales to minors

Teens, drinking and your parenting style

Call it the Goldilocks approach to parenting.

New research shows which parenting style works best to keep a teenager away from the most dangerous type of alcohol use. Scientists surveyed 5,000 teens, ranging from 7th- to 12th-grade, on their drinking habits and their home life.

Results show a parenting style that isn't too strict or too permissive works best to prevent binge drinking. Why? Teens have boundaries and consequences and have opportunities to use own judgment.

Story on NPR.

Binge drinking in France

From The Guardian:

"Until several months ago, the apero was the bastion of civilised Gallic routine: a delicate early evening staple cherished as much by families in la France profonde as by the chattering classes of Paris.

That was before the noisy arrival of the apero geant -- giant aperitif -- a new phenomenon that is sweeping France, raising fears that the genteel pastime is being hijacked by binge-drinking revellers."

"Uppermost in the concerns of the French authorities is the spread of binge drinking among the younger generation. As more and more of its adolescents report getting drunk regularly, the nation that used to pride itself on its leisurely consumption has been forced to admit it too has a problem."

A typical binge drinker

A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that binge drinking is most common among whites, men, individuals aged 18-24, and those with an annual income of more than $50,000 annually.

Defining youth binge drinking

Medical News Today reports that a recent study suggests that binge drinking should be defined as three or more drinks for youth ages 9 - 13; four or more drinks for boys and three or more drinks for girls ages 14 - 15; and five or more drinks for boys and three or more drinks for girls ages 16 - 17.

Currently, binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks, regardless of age.

In northeast Seattle, 14% of Roosevelt High School tenth-graders and 21% of Nathan Hale High School tenth-graders reported recent binge drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) when they took the Healthy Youth Survey in October. If new definitions were used, how many more students would report binge drinking?

Binge drinking and the adolescent brain

From Newswise:

A study of adolescent binge drinkers has found that even relatively infrequent exposure to large amounts of alcohol during the teen years may compromise the integrity of the brain’s white matter, which is critical for the efficient relay of information within the brain. The preliminary findings – to be published online in advance of the July issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research – indicate that binge drinking may be detrimental to the developing adolescent brain.

Binge drinking-related ER visits increase

From "Intervening With Teen Drinking", National Public Radio, Weekend Edition, March 22, 2009:

In the past three years, the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento saw a 30 percent increase in children between 12 and 17 coming to the ER with injuries from binge drinking. And they had higher blood alcohol levels than in the past. Emergency departments across the country say they're seeing the same thing.

These findings seem to contradict Monitoring the Future, a self-reported survey that is considered the gold standard for tracking risky behavior in teens.

Lloyd Johnston, a principal investigator with Monitoring the Future, oversees the questionnaire that asks kids about their drinking habits. He says the survey is not seeing more kids drinking. In fact, his study has found fewer kids drinking over the past eight or 10 years.

Still, Johnston says there could be a reason for the conflicting reports: "It could be still that among those who drink, there's more extreme forms of drinking, and they're more likely to end up in the emergency room."

That hypothesis rings true with the Drug Abuse Warning Network, or DAWN, which is part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The data-collection network tracks emergency room visits for teen binge drinking.

DAWN surveyed 12 metropolitan areas over the past couple of years. Four of those areas saw a significant increase in ER visits due to teen binge drinking from 2004 to 2006. Denver had a 50 percent jump, from 644 estimated visits to 778; Phoenix saw a 49 percent rise, from 460 to 725. In New York City, such ER visits were up 35 percent, from 899 to 1,211. San Diego had the highest increase: 139 percent, from 183 visits to 438.

Who's to blame when you get drunk?

On National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation yesterday . . .

Who's To Blame When You Get Drunk? A man who got drunk on a United Airlines flight was arrested for beating his wife as they walked through customs. The couple is now suing the airline for serving him too many drinks. On an airplane, at a bar, or at a party, who's responsible when someone gets drunk? Guests were:

Jody Drews, mother of Jesse Drews, who died after drinking 15 shots in less than an hour at a bar

Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, and research and policy director for the Marin Institute

Susan Cheever, author of My Name Is Bill, about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous