National Data

Each day, 7,000 kids in the United States under the age of 16 take their first drink.

Three surveys give an accurate account of youth alcohol use, including binge drinking rates, throughout the United States:

• The National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS)
• The Monitoring the Future Study (MTF)
• The National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH)—formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)

(1) The National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. National, state, and local YRBS’s are conducted every 2 years among high school students throughout the United States. For 2005, 13,953 questionnaires were completed in 159 schools.

The 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results show the following:

Overall use:

• Alcohol use in high school students declined overall between 2003 and 2005, with 44.9% in 2003 and 43.3% in 2005 reporting use in the past month.
• Rates of alcohol use for 9th grade boys increased between 2003 and 2005. In 2003, 33.9% reported drinking in the past month compared with 36.3% in 2005.
• Rates of alcohol use for 9th grade girls decreased between 2003 and 2005. In 2003, 38.5% reported drinking in the past month compared with 36.2% in 2005.

Binge drinking:

• Binge drinking in high school students declined from 28.3% in 2003 to 25.5% in 2005.
• Rates of binge drinking for 9th grade boys increased from 18.8% in 2003 to 20.7% in 2005.
• Rates of binge drinking for 9th grade girls decreased from 20.9% in 2003 to 17.3% in 2005.

First use:

• The survey asked all students whether they had started using alcohol before age 13. Among students in grades 9 through 12, 25.6% had drunk alcohol before age 13. For 9th graders only, however, 33.9% reported having consumed alcohol before age 13. In contrast, only 18.6% of 9th graders reported having smoked cigarettes, and 11.2% reported having used marijuana before they were age 13.

 “I think the most alarming is the series of questions asking, ‘Did you start doing that before age 13?’One out of four kids has had a drink of alcohol—and we’re not talking about a sip. The episodic heavy drinking really shakes me up. The question asks: have you had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row? You get one out of four high-school students saying yes. I’m gone after two beers, and they’re drinking five in a row.”
--Dr. Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC division of adolescent and school health

Gender:

• Sex differences for 9th graders have also shifted since 2003. In 2003, 9th grade girls consumed more alcohol and did more binge drinking than did boys. In 2005, boys and girls had similar rates for drinking in the past month, but boys outnumbered girls in binge drinking.

Racial and ethnic differences:

• White students were more likely than black or Hispanic students to report episodic heavy drinking. Among students in grades 9 to 12, 29.9% of non-Hispanic white students, 11.1% of African American students, and 25.3% of Hispanic students reported binge drinking.

For a complete copy of the 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results, see the link below:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5505.pdf

(2) The Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted by the University of Michigan. Overall, 49,347 students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades from 402 public and private schools participated in the 2005 survey. In addition, annual follow-up questionnaires are mailed to a sample of each graduating class for a number of years after their initial participation.

The 2005 Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) results show that:

Overall use:

• Past year use of alcohol was down 2.7% among 8th graders; down 1.5% among 10th graders; and down 2.1% among 12th graders. This continues a decline that began in 2002.
• 17.1% of 8th graders, 33.2% of 10th graders, and 47.0% of 12th graders used alcohol at least once in the past 30 days. These are all decreases in usage rates from 2004.
• Three out of every four students (75%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school.
• 64% of 8th graders and 84% of 10th graders believe that alcohol is readily available to them for consumption.

Binge drinking:

• 19.5% of 8th graders, 42.1% of 10th graders, and 57.5% of 12th graders report having been drunk at least once in their lifetime.
• 14.1% of 8th graders, 34.2% of 10th graders, and 47.7% of 12th graders report having been drunk at least once in 2005.
• 6.0% of 8th graders, 17.6% of 10th graders, and 30.2% of 12th graders report having been drunk at least once in the past 30 days.
• Most youth (82.9% of 8th graders, 73.7% of 10th graders, and 66.5% of 12th graders) disapprove of binge drinking (having five or more drinks once or twice each weekend).

For a complete copy of the 2005 Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) results, see the link below:
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/overview2005.pdf

(3) The National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH)—formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (SAMHSA). This survey is the primary source of statistical information on illicit drug use in the U.S. population.  In 2004, 67,760 persons aged 12 or older participated in the survey the United States.

The 2004 National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH) results show the following:

Overall use:

• Among youths aged 12 to 17, an estimated 17.6% used alcohol in the month prior to the survey interview (i.e., were current drinkers). These percentages were similar to those obtained in 2002 and 2003.
• Across geographic regions, underage current alcohol use rates were higher in the Northeast (32.3%) and Midwest (31.4%) than in the South and the West (26.2% and 27.3%, respectively). This pattern was similar to that measured in 2002 and 2003.

Binge drinking:

• Rates of binge alcohol use among young people increased with age, from 1.1% at age 12 to 26.6% at age 17. Binge alcohol use peaked at age 21 (48.2%) and then decreased beyond young adulthood.
• Among youths aged 12 to 17, an estimated 11.1% were binge drinkers and 2.7% were heavy drinkers (binge drinking on 5 or more days in the past month). These percentages for binge and heavy drinking were similar to those obtained in 2002 and 2003.
• More males than females aged 12 to 20 reported binge drinking (22.1% vs. 17.0%) and heavy drinking (8.2% vs. 4.3%) in 2004.
• Among persons aged 12 to 20, binge drinking was reported by 22.8% of whites, 19.0% of American Indians or Alaska Natives, 19.3% of Hispanics, and 18.0% of persons reporting two or more races. However, binge drinking was reported by only 9.9% of blacks and 8.0% of Asians. The binge drinking rate among underage Hispanics of 19.3% increased significantly from the 2003 rate of 16.9%.

First use:

• Persons who first drank alcohol before age 15 were more than five times as likely to report alcohol dependence or abuse in the past year as persons who first drank at age 21 or older. Specifically, 16% of those who began drinking alcohol before age 12 reported alcohol dependence or abuse in the past year, as did 15.5% of those who began between ages 12 and 14. In contrast, of those who started drinking at 21 or older only 2.6% of persons reported alcohol dependence or abuse.
• Almost 74% of persons age 21 or older reported that they started drinking alcohol before age 21. Of these, 4% reported first drinking before age 12, 14% between ages 12 and 14, 33% between ages 15 and 17, and 22% between ages 18 and 20.

Gender:

• Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rates of past month alcohol use were not significantly different between males and females (17.2% for males vs. 18.0% for females).

Racial and ethnic differences:

• Among persons aged 12 to 20, past month alcohol use rates ranged from 16.4% among Asians to 19.1% among blacks, 24.3% among American Indians or Alaska Natives, 26.4% among those reporting two or more races, 26.6% among Hispanics, and 32.6% among whites.
• Among youths aged 12 to 17, blacks and Asians reported the lowest rate of past month alcohol use. Only 9.4% of Asian youths and 9.8% of black youths were current drinkers, while rates were at or above 18% for whites, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Hispanics, and youths reporting two or more races.

For a complete copy of the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH) results, see the link below:
http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k4nsduh/2k4Results/2k4Results.pdf

References