Alcohol Abuse and Teenage Statistics

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Studies on alcohol abuse and teenage statistics show that U.S. teen alcohol abuse is increasing AND starting at an earlier age.  More to the point, according to various research studies on alcohol abuse and teenage statistics, the average age when U.S. teenagers first try alcohol is 11 years old for boys and 13 years old for girls.

These studies also show that the average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is approximately 15.9 years old.  Obviously, these statistics reinforce the assertion that underage drinking is a significant problem in the U.S.

Additional Alcohol Abuse and Teenage Statistics

In a some fairly recent studies, the following statistics about teens and drinking alcohol were discovered:

• teens in grades 7 through 12 consume 35% of the wine coolers sold in the United States.
• Alcohol kills 6-1/2 times more teens than all of the other illicit drugs combined.
• teens who consume numerous alcoholic drinks in one sitting (known as "binge drinking") skip school twice as often as teens who do no engage in binge drinking.  Additionally, teens who binge drink receive C's or lower twice as often as teens who do not drink excessively.
• almost one-third of high school seniors surveyed stated that they had five or more alcoholic drinks during one drinking episode during the past two-week period.
• 40 percent of teens who began drinking at 13 years of age or younger developed an alcohol addiction later in life.  This can be compared with the following:  Ten percent of teens who started drinking alcohol after 17 years of age developed alcohol dependence.
• In a one year period of time, 10.6 million teens in grades seven through twelve consumed more than one billion cans of been.
• In one survey it was found that 10 million youth between the ages of 12 and 20 drank some sort of alcohol in the month prior to the survey.
• One in four high school seniors reported drinking some kind of alcoholic beverage on a daily basis.

• Teens have stated that other people's homes is the most common setting for drinking.
• 33% of sixth and ninth graders said that they get their alcohol from their own homes.
• Lifetime alcohol abuse is greatest for those who begin drinking at the age of 14.
• In the last 30 days, half of the teens surveyed stated that they drank alcohol and one-third of them said that they got drunk on at least one occasion.
• Teens that drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol.

Alcohol Abuse and Teenage Statistics:  Conclusion

According to various research studies on alcohol abuse and teenage statistics discussed above, teens start drinking alcohol at a very early age.  In fact, according to research undertaken by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) teens who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop a dependency on alcohol than those who begin drinking at 21 years of age.

Armed with this information, our educators, parents, and political leaders need to educate our young people on the dangers of alcohol abuse and alcoholism BEFORE and as they become teenagers so that they do not join the underage drinking statistics.

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