Underage Drinking Fact Sheet
Underage Drinking Remains a Persistent Problem
- 29% of underage youth report current use
About 10.9 million Americans between ages 12-20 report current alcohol use; this represents 29% of this age group for whom alcohol is illegal. - Nearly 1 in 5 underage drinkers report binge drinking
Of these youth, nearly 7.2 million (19%) were binge drinkers and 2.3 (6%) were heavy drinkers. Furthermore, more males than females aged 12 to 20 reported binge drinking in 2003 (22% and 17%, respectively). - Consumption rates essentially same as 2002
These rates of consumption reflect essentially the same levels of consumption as reported in the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. - Prevalence of current alcohol use increases with age
The prevalence of current alcohol use continues to increase with increasing age in 2003, from 3% at age 12 to 6% at age 13, 13% at age 14, 21% at age 15, 29% at age 16, and 35% at age 17. The rate reached a peak of nearly 70% for persons 21 years old. - Underage drinking by gender
Except among youths 12 to 17, males were more likely than females to report past month alcohol use. Among 12-17 year old 19% of females report they are current drinkers compared with 17% of males. - Age at first use
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), first use of alcohol typically begins around the age 12. - Risks of drinking before age 15
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), children who begin drinking before the age of 15 have a four times greater chance of becoming alcoholic as an adult than those who begin at 21, the legal drinking age.
- 29% of underage youth report current use
Underage Consumption Trends Over Time
- Number of students who report drinking
The 16th Annual Pride Survey revealed the number of students who reported they drank alcohol in the past year remained relatively unchanged and again reached an all time record low in the history of the Pride Survey national report. - Annual use decreased, while monthly use increased
According to the 2002-03 Pride Survey, among all students in grades 6 to 12, annual reported use of any alcohol product (beer, wine cooler, liquor) decreased slightly from the previous school year, while monthly use increased. Annual use dropped from 50.4 percent in the 2001-02 school year to 50.1 in the current school year, and monthly use increased from 22.6 percent in 2001-02 to 24.5 in 2002-03. This trend held true at every grade level. - Lifetime alcohol use by grade level
The 2004 Monitoring the Future study overall indicated alcohol use was relatively unchanged in 2004 for the second year after declining in 2002. Lifetime alcohol consumption declined nearly two percentage points among 8th and 10th grade students over the past year; consumption among high school seniors remained relatively unchanged. That is, 44% of eighth grade students, 64% of tenth graders, and 77% of twelfth graders report they have tried alcohol. - Annual and 30-day alcohol use by grade level
In 2004, annual consumption of alcohol and 30-day alcohol consumption among 8th and 10th graders declined, however, 12th graders reported marginal increases in their consumption. Despite the lack of significant decrease in annual alcohol consumption, from 1994 to 2004 annual use has declined 22% among eighth graders, 9% among tenth graders, and 3% among twelfth graders, while 30-day use has decreased 27% among eighth graders, 10% among tenth graders, and 4% among twelfth graders.
- Number of students who report drinking
Underage Drinking and Driving
- Nearly 1 in 5 teens reports having driven under the influence
Data from the 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health 17% of 16-20 year olds reported driving under the influence of alcohol. Older persons were more likely than younger ones to report driving under the influence — 28% of 20 year olds compared to 10% of 16 year olds have driven under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. - Teens care about drunk driving
According to the most recent wave of The TRU Study (Fall 2004) from Teenage Research Unlimited, drinking and driving continues to be an issue of great importance to teens. Three-fourths of teens (76%) cite drunk driving as an issue they care about, making it teens' top life-and-death issue and ranking it second overall, following only education and ahead of such issues as war, terrorism, drug abuse, cigarette smoking, and abortion. - Young drivers and fatality rates
Young drivers are over-represented in both alcohol- and non-alcohol related fatality rates. Alcohol-related fatality rates are nearly twice as great for 18-, 19- and 20-year olds as for the population over 21. More than 40 percent of 18-, 19-, and 20- year old crash fatalities are alcohol related.
- Nearly 1 in 5 teens reports having driven under the influence
What Parents Can Do
- Parents should talk with their teens, not at them
A qualitative research study conducted by Amica Insurance confirmed that teenagers whose parents talk with them versus talk at them may be less at risk to engage in harmful behavior involving alcohol. What's more, teens said they would be more apt not to drink and drive if they had heard directly from their parents how important they are to them. - Parents should talk regularly about drug dangers
Teenagers whose parents talk to them regularly about the dangers of drugs are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don't, yet only 1 in 4 teens reports having these conversations (Partnership for a Drug-Free America news release, 4/26/99). - Teens need hands-on parenting
Only one in four teens in America (27 percent, about 6.5 million) lives with "hands-on" parents — parents who have established a household culture of rules and expectations for their teen's behavior and monitor what their teens do: such as the TV shows they watch, the CD's they buy, what they access on the Internet, and where they are spending evenings and weekends. These teens are at one quarter the risk of smoking, drinking and using drugs as teens with "hands-off" parents, according to a new survey of 1,000 American teens ages 12-17 conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA).
- Parents should talk with their teens, not at them
