A new study reveals that one out of 10 senior high school students do extreme binge drinking, or 10 or more drinks in a row, with rates unchanging for six years. It may explain why many teenagers are being rushed in the emergency room due to alcohol and drug overdose.
Less extreme binge drinking, or five or more in one go, showed a downward trend in the past few years for teenagers. Senior high school students on the other hand showed only a slight decrease from the 2005 rate compared to 2011.
The more severe level, or 15 drinks or more in a row, had remained unchanged from 2005 to 2011. Around six percent of seniors in high school were found downing this amount of alcohol.
Megan Patrick, lead author of the study from the Institute of Social Research of University of Michigan, found the numbers concerning as these senior high school students are more at risk for the really severe consequences such alcohol poisoning, reckless driving, and accidents. Extreme binge drinking is also an entrenched behavior among young adults and is very difficult to control.
The researchers gave a questionnaire-survey to 16,000 senior high school students which they have integrated on the survey given out by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2005.
Their analysis revealed that most of the extreme binge drinkers are males and whites. They also found that teens of more educated descent are more likely to engage in binge drinking than others, but less likely in extreme drinking.
On the other hand, extreme binge drinking is prevalent in the Midwest and rural parts and less widespread in Western areas.
The study was published in the Sept. 16 issue of the online journal JAMA Pediatrics.
