|
SOCIETY
Approximately 14 million Americans — about 7.4
percent of the adult population — meet the
diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or
alcoholism.
More than one-half of
American adults have a close family member who
has or has had alcoholism.
Research was conducted in
1998 to determine the total cost attributable to
the consequences of underage drinking. The cost
was more than $58 billion per year, based on
year 2000 dollars.
In 1992, the estimated
productivity loss for employees with past or
current alcoholism was $66.7 billion.
Productivity losses were greatest for male
employees who initiated drinking before age 15.
In a survey of 18- to
24-year-old current drinkers who failed to
complete high school, nearly 60 percent had
begun to drink before age 16.
In 1999, the average
American drank 32 gallons of beer compared to 51
gallons of soft drinks, 24 gallons of milk, and
26 gallons of coffee.
Men who consume more than
two alcoholic drinks per day are at increased
risk for cancer, cerebrovascular disease,
accidents, and violence.
Long-term, heavy alcohol
use is the leading cause of illness and death
from liver disease in the U.S.
Alcohol is implicated in more than 100,000
deaths annually.
In 1996, about 2 million
(38%) of the estimated 5.3 million convicted
offenders under the jurisdiction of corrections’
agencies were drinking at the time of the
offense.
THE FAMILY
Approximately one in four children is exposed to
family alcoholism or addiction, or alcohol
abuse, some time before the age of 18.
Current research suggests children are less
likely to drink when their parents spend time
and interact in a positive way with them, and
when they and their parents report feeling close
to each other.
Adolescents drink less and have fewer
alcohol-related problems when their parents
discipline them consistently and set clear
expectations.
Children of alcoholics are significantly more
likely to engage in underage alcohol use and to
develop addiction and other alcohol-use
disorders.
Parents' drinking behaviors and attitudes of
acceptance about drinking have been associated
with adolescents' initiating and continuing
drinking.
Any drinking during pregnancy, even "social
drinking," can put offspring at risk for
learning and behavioral problems during
adolescence.
THE CHILD
Sixty-seven percent of eighth graders and 83
percent of tenth graders believe that alcohol is
readily available to them for consumption.
Forty percent of
ninth-grade students reported having consumed
alcohol before they were age 13. In contrast,
only 26.2 percent of ninth graders reported
having smoked cigarettes, and 11.6 percent
reported having used marijuana before they were
age 13.
Forty-one percent of
ninth-grade students reported drinking in the
past month, while only 24 percent reported
smoking in the past month.
One-fifth of eighth graders and 42 percent of
tenth graders have been drunk at least once.
Almost one-fourth of
ninth graders reported binge drinking (having
had five or more drinks on one occasion) in the
past month.
Rates of drinking differ among racial and ethnic
minority groups. Among students in grades 9 to
12, binge drinking was reported by 34 percent
non-Hispanic white students, 11 percent of
African American students, and 30 percent of
Hispanic students.
|
|
The gap
between alcohol use by boys and girls has
closed. Among ninth graders, girls consume
alcohol and binge drink at rates almost equal to
boys.
More than 40 percent of
individuals who start drinking before the age of
13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol
dependence at some point in their lives.
If drinking is delayed
until age 21, a child's risk of serious alcohol
problems is decreased by 70 percent.
THE SCHOOL
Evidence suggests that alcohol use by peers is a
strong predictor of adolescent use of alcohol.
According to a 1995
national survey of fourth through sixth graders
who read the Weekly Reader, 30 percent of
students reported that they received "a lot" of
pressure from their classmates to drink beer.
According to this same
1995 Weekly Reader survey, more than half (54%)
of fourth through sixth graders reported
learning about the dangers of illicit drugs at
school, but fewer than a third (30%) learned
about the dangers of drinking and smoking at
school.
Among eighth graders,
students with higher grade point averages
reported less alcohol use in the past month.
Research indicates that
adolescents who use alcohol may remember 10
percent less of what they have learned than
those who don’t drink.
Among eighth graders,
higher truancy rates were associated with
greater rates of alcohol use in the past month.
One national study found
that students are less likely to use alcohol if
they are socially accepted by people at school,
and feel that teachers treat students fairly.
In a survey of seventh-
through twelfth-grade teachers, 76 percent felt
that underage student drinking was a serious or
somewhat serious problem. THE COMMUNITY
An overwhelming number of Americans (96%) are
concerned about underage drinking; and a
majority support measures that would help reduce
teen drinking, such as stricter controls on
alcohol sales, advertising, and promotion.
Recent advertising expenditures in the United
States for beer, wine, and liquor combined ($1.4
billion) totaled about 20 times the amount spent
on milk ads ($70.5 million). A total of $910.4
million was spent on beer ads, $135.2 million on
wine ads, and $377 million on liquor ads.
A study of fifth- and
sixth-grade students found that those who
demonstrated an awareness of beer ads also held
more favorable beliefs about drinking and
intended to drink more frequently when they grew
up.
One study of Midwestern States found that 46
percent of ninth graders who reported drinking
alcohol in the previous month said they obtained
the alcohol from a person aged 21 or older.
In a study conducted in
38 States and the District of Columbia, areas
with greater numbers of drinking establishments
had higher rates of alcoholism.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the
21-year-old minimum drinking age laws have saved
21,887 lives since the mid-1970s.
Among drivers aged 15-20,
fatal crashes involving a single vehicle at
night are three times more likely than other
fatal crashes to be alcohol-related.
Source: Leadership to
Keep Children Alcohol Free, http://www.alcoholfreechildren.org,
individual sources listed on site.
Revised 04/04 |
