Thursday, June 4, 2009

Defining youth binge drinking

Medical News Today reports that a recent study suggests that binge drinking should be defined as three or more drinks for youth ages 9 - 13; four or more drinks for boys and three or more drinks for girls ages 14 - 15; and five or more drinks for boys and three or more drinks for girls ages 16 - 17.

Currently, binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks, regardless of age.

In northeast Seattle, 14% of Roosevelt High School tenth-graders and 21% of Nathan Hale High School tenth-graders reported recent binge drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) when they took the Healthy Youth Survey in October. If new definitions were used, how many more students would report binge drinking?

No comments: