Underage Drinking Fact Sheet

Alcohol is the most frequently used and abused drug among minors in the U. S. more than tobacco and illicit drugs. Underage drinkers consume more drinks every drinking occasion than adult drinkers do. By 2008, there were roughly 190,000 emergency rooms visitations by individuals under the age of twenty-one for injuries and other conditions cause from liquor.

Drinking Levels Among Youth:

According to the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey they found that between high school students, throughout the past 30 days

• 42% drank some amount of alcohol.
• 24% binge drank.
• 10% drove after drinking alcohol.
• 28% rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.

• In 2008 it has been reported that 28% of youth age 12 to 20 years old drink alcohol and 19% reported binge drinking.
• In 2009 it has been reported that 37% of 8th graders and 72% of 12th graders had tried alcohol, and 15% of 8th graders and 44% of 12th graders drank during the past month.

Consequences of Underage Drinking:

• School problems, such as increased absences and deprived or failing grades.
• Social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities.
• Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk.
• Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses.
• Unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity.
• Interference of normal growth and sexual development.
• Physical and sexual assault.
• Higher risk for suicide and homicide.
• Alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning.
• Memory problems.
• Abuse of other drugs.
• Fluctuations in brain development that may have long term effects.
• Mortality from alcohol poisoning.

The risk of these issues are greater for those who binge drink than those who do not binge drink. Young kids who drink before the age of fifteen are five times more likely risking of having an alcohol abuse problem than those who start drinking at the age of twenty-one.

Prevention of Underage Drinking:

There are many prevention strategies that can be taken such as enforcement of minimum legal drinking age laws, national media campaigns targeting youth and adults, increasing alcohol excise taxes, reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising, and development of comprehensive community-based programs.