The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 69 percent of students who reported binge drinking indulged in the activity on more than one occasion in the past 30 days.
The study, published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that 45 percent of more than 15,000 high school students who completed the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported past-month alcohol consumption and 64 percent of those students reported having five or more drinks of alcohol in a row.
Researchers also found that binge drinking is “strongly associated with sexual activity, violence and other risky behaviors,” and binge drinkers have a greater likelihood of engaging in such practices than nondrinkers and drinkers who do not binge.
“Our study clearly shows that it’s not just that students drink alcohol, but how much they drink that most strongly affects whether they experience other health and social problems,” Jacqueline Miller, a medical officer on the CDC’s alcohol team and lead author of the report, said in a CDC news release Jan. 2.
“It also underscores the importance of implementing effective strategies to prevent underage and binge drinking, such as enforcing the minimum legal drinking age and reducing alcohol marketing to youth, which can help us change social norms regarding the acceptability of underage and binge drinking,” Miller added.
Shepherd Smith, president of the Institute for Youth Development, advised parents to stop binge drinking before it starts by not having alcohol in the home.
“What studies have shown is that when kids have access to a substance, they’re more likely to use it,” Smith told Family News in Focus. “When they see adults using or participating in a behavior, they’re much more apt to participate themselves.”