Alcohol Abuse and Teenage Statistics

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The research findings, facts and statistics on alcohol abuse and teenagers demonstrate that underage drinking and teenage alcohol abuse are increasing and starting at earlier ages in technologically advanced countries like the United States.  More specifically, according to a number of different research studies on adolescent alcohol abuse in the U.S., the average age when teenagers first try alcohol is 13 years old for girls and 11 years old for boys.

These research findings also reveal that the average age at which U.S. teens begin drinking on a regular basis is around 15.9 years old.  Clearly, these findings have a lot of relevance when discussing underage drinking and teenage alcohol abuse.

Additional Teenage Alcohol Abuse Statistics

According to a number of recent research studies, the following adolescent alcohol abuse statistics were found:

• One in four high school seniors reported drinking some kind of alcoholic beverage on a daily basis.
• According to a 1999 Federal Trade Commission report, alcohol companies placed their product in 233 motion pictures and in one or more episodes of 181 different television series in 1997-98. In the fifteen shows most popular with teens, eight had alcohol product placements.
• Lifetime alcohol abuse is greatest for those who begin drinking at the age of 14.
• Teens that drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol.
• According to alcoholism statistics, roughly 9.7 million current drinkers in the United States are between the ages of 12-20.
• An alcohol abuse study undertaken in 2007 by the Science Daily revealed that drinking behavior and drinking habits that started during a person's youth will probably continue throughout an individual's adulthood.
• 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.
• According to a 2007 Science Daily report, U.S. adolescent males are more likely to belong to the higher-risk group of thrill seekers, while adolescent females are more likely to belong to the lowest level of risky drinking, the experimenters.
• A reported 2.6 million binge drinkers in 2002 were between the ages of 12 and 17 years old.
• 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.
• According to the 1998 alcoholism statistics, 1,668 U.S. drivers from the ages of 16 to 20 were involved in alcohol-related traffic fatalities and another 21,000 16 to 20-year olds were involved in alcohol-related traffic accidents that led to injuries
• 33% of sixth and ninth graders said that they get their alcohol from their own homes.

• 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.
• In a recent study of fifth and sixth-grade students, it was discovered that the students who had a knowledge of various beer ads not only had more positive attitudes about drinking, but they also intended to drink more often when they got older.
• 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.
• Teens have stated that other people's homes is the most common setting for drinking.

Alcohol Abuse and Teenage Statistics:  Conclusion

According to a variety of research studies on teenage alcohol abuse, teenagers start drinking alcohol at an extremely 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.  Without question, adolescent alcohol abuse is a major problem in the U.S.

Equipped with this information, our political leaders, parents, community leaders, and educators need to educate today's youth about the dangers and health hazards of alcoholism, alcohol abuse, and underage drinking before they become teenagers.

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