<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061107/hl_nm/alcohol_deaths_dc[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061107/hl_nm/alcohol_deaths_dc</a></p>
<p>This study should put an end to the notion that “European-style” (early age) drinking leads to better results among adults. It also should be seen as a warning as to where at least a few of our kids are going to end up, without intervention.</p>
<p>mini - interesting study. Years ago, I worked with folks from our London office. Never saw so much drinking in my life - 10-15 drinks over the course of one night was no big deal. Amazing. When we went to London, there were packs of drunks roaming the streets in Covent Garden. All ages too. So with the serious binge drinking problem at US colleges - are we heading for the same fate as our London friends? Or will our kids adjust their behaviors when they graduate?</p>
<p>We have data on your last question - among the bingers. 1/3 (actually, slightly less) alcoholics (many of them already are); 1/3 heavy drinkers as adults; 1/3 will moderate their drinker or become abstainers. Among those who are heavy (near daily) drinkers in college, (29% at my alma mater), slightly over half will become alcoholics (many already are.)</p>
<p>More data just released from the National Survey on Drug Use on Health (Issue 31), on “Underage Alcohol Use Among Full-Time College Students”. Examined only those full-time in school between ages 18-20, 2002-2005</p>
<p>Some interesting data: 40.1% binged in past month (46.9% male; 34.4% female); 16.6% heavy (near daily) drinkers (22.7% male; 11.5% female.)</p>
<p>There are some “artifacts” in the data. Many of these students live at home. And those living with a parent, grandparent, or parent-in-law were 40% or so less likely to engage in heavy drinking. (No surprise there.) What that means, of course, is that heavy drinking rates at residential colleges are significantly highly (as the 29% heavy drinking rates at Williams and Duke would indicate.)</p>
<p>For me, the most interesting part of the data was that past month use, binge drinking, and heavy alcohol use all increases significantly with age. This gives the lie to the notion that drinking is primarily a freshman thing, and that the students increasingly grow out of it. The data indicate no such thing. In fact, at age 20, heavy drinking rises to 18.8%. (again, impacted by the artificact of fewer students living with parental relatives.) </p>
<p>Full-time college students were signficantly more likely than their peers who are in school part-time, or not currently enrolled to engage in binge and heavy drinking.</p>
<p>“She was drinking at the dorm with other people, just drinking shots- vodka -not beer”: Stated by the police dectective in the investigation of the death of an 18 yr. old college student on Monday.The freshman was found not breathing in her dorm room. Awaiting toxicology report after an autopsy yesterday.
David Salter, spokesman for the college: states it is premature to draw that. conclusion. “Police officers made irresponsible statements which may or may not be true. We are a dry campus.” He added they would punish any students found with alcohol in their rooms.</p>
<p>Well, this was in todays paper. Premature conclusion for sure but “WE ARE A DRY CAMPUS”??? Huh??? The college spokesman had some time to think about this one and this is what he came up with? His first impulse was to save face for his college? </p>
<p>Student was a freshman who had played HS field hockey and marched in the
HS band. Another young student to mourn who will not be home for the holidays. I am so sorry for her family.</p>
<p>Parents…talk to your children before they celebrate the conclusion of finals and the end of the semester. Lecture them, teach them, demand that they hear you. Tell them, show them the facts of how binge drinking and hard alcohol can end their lives. This could easily have been your kid or mine.</p>
<p>mini,</p>
<p>I think that the drinking problem in many high schools is just as bad (or worse) than what you cite for college students. I see the problem starting at a younger age for many kids, college bound or not. </p>
<p>Even with the 18-20 year olds, I do not think that the drinking problem is restricted to college students. I am sure that some blue collar or unemployed residents in that age group drink as much or more than their educated peers! It just may be easier to gather data (reliable or not) from college student surveys.</p>
<p>Here is an interesting study released yesterday linking adolescent smoking and drinking. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/11/29/hscout536299.html[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/11/29/hscout536299.html</a></p>
<p>I would guess that non-college students may smoke more than their college peers. I’m not sure if there are statistics to verify that or not.</p>
<p>“Even with the 18-20 year olds, I do not think that the drinking problem is restricted to college students. I am sure that some blue collar or unemployed residents in that age group drink as much or more than their educated peers! It just may be easier to gather data (reliable or not) from college student surveys.”</p>
<p>Nope. We have data on this question. (I posted it in another forum.) Actually, total drinking rates (what percentage drink vs. what percentage abstain) is about the same, but binge drinking and heavy drinking are, respectively, higher and much higher for college students. And much, much higher when you look at the data for many of the prestige institutions. (the same, however, is not true of drug use.)</p>
<p>We have VERY reliable data, going back 30 years, backed up “experimental” (i.e. direct observation) data, with very large survey samples, with more than 68,000 interviews per year conducted face to face.</p>
<p>There are good data indicating that African American high school students are much less likely to smoke cigarettes than their white or Hispanic peers. 2006 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that only 13 percent of African American high school students smoke – as compared to 26 percent of whites and 22 percent of Hispanics (somebody forgot to include the Asians in this study, as usual). <a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/youth/Youth_Factsheet.htm[/url]”>http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/youth/Youth_Factsheet.htm</a></p>
<p>I wonder whether there are parallel trends with regard to drinking.</p>
<p>When it comes to tobacco, African Americans are doing something right, and the rest of us need to figure out what the heck it is. And if we could learn something about drinking at the same time, that would be even better.</p>
<p>Maybe African Americans are smart enough not to waste their money on tobacco.
My son was pretty horrified at the number of his high school peers who smoked. At least with a singer and an endurance athlete for kids, that’s one thing I haven’t had to worry about (perhaps the ONLY thing!).</p>
<p>re smoking-
My older daughter took ballet lessons at pacific northwest ballet as a child- very Balanchine oriented ( very thin)- she started to be groomed for the corps- as she is so small boned that her piano teacher had to change her music since she couldn’t reach a full octave* in college*- but after watching the high school girls bemoan the size of their thighs- after smoking outside the building to kill their appetite, I realized that ballet was not as glamourous as I thought :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I wonder if the increase in smoking among girls is related to that at all.
Ive read studies, that AA girls, are much more likely to feel comfortable with the way they look even/especially if they aren’t bone thin
<a href=“http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2002/nhlbi-03.htm[/url]”>http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2002/nhlbi-03.htm</a></p>
<p>Smoking is still in the media as glamorous, just as often as it adds to a Ratso Rizzo character.
I am currently reading- the Devil wore Prada ( which my daughter wanted to read, since it was obstensibly about the fashion world- but she didn’t really seem to think much of it & since it supposedly was well received enough for Meryl Streep to star in the movie I wanted to know why)- which is very poorly written- not only that , but the “heroine” smokes a lot, as does her roommate.- Seems odd in this day and age.
( and her weight of 115lbs and 5’10" is viewed as thin but not alarmingly so-
)</p>