- Almost 42 percent of ninth grade students reported having consumed alcohol before they were 13. 1
- About 44 percent of ninth grade students reported drinking in the past month. In contrast, only 33 percent of ninth graders reported smoking in the past month. 1
- One fourth (25 percent) of ninth grade students reported binge drinking (having had five or more drinks on one occasion) in the past month. 1
- Rates of drinking differ among racial and ethnic minority groups. Among ninth graders, binge drinking was reported by 27 percent of non-Hispanic white students and 30 percent of Hispanic students, but only 15 percent of African American students and 5 percent of Asian-Pacific Islander students. 2
- The gap between alcohol use by boys and girls has closed. Girls consume alcohol and binge drink at rates equal to boys. 1
- Forty percent of children who start drinking before the age of 15 will become alcoholics at some point in their lives. If the onset of drinking is delayed by 5 years, a child's risk of serious alcohol problems is decreased by 50 percent. 3
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United States, 1997. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: CDC Surveillance Summaries 47 (No. SS-3) 1-89.
2 Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. [Racial/ethnic breakdown of youth alcohol rates.] Unpublished data, 1999. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 1997.
3 Grant, B.F., and Dawson, D.A. Age at onset of alcohol use and association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 9:103-110, 1997.
