Some 32.8% of high school students had drunk alcohol in the 30 days before they were surveyed, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, reporting on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
But only 4.8% had been drinking alcohol before they drove a car, the study showed. To be sure, the prevalence of having driven a car or other vehicle when they had been drinking alcohol was higher among male (9.5%) than female (6.0%) students, higher among white male (9.4%) than white female (5.4%) students, and higher among 10th-grade male (8.2%) than 10th-grade female (2.2%) students.
Not surprisingly, the prevalence of having driven a car or other vehicle when they had been drinking alcohol was higher among 12th-grade (9.9%) than 9th-grade (5.6%) students; higher among 11th-grade (8.7%) and 12th-grade (9.9%) than 10th-grade (5.3%) students; higher among 9th-grade female (5.5%), 11th-grade female (6.8%), and 12th-grade female (8.0%) than 10th-grade female (2.2%) students; and higher among 12th-grade male (11.7%) than 9th-grade male (5.7%) students.
Nationwide, 63.2% of students had had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during their life (i.e., ever drank alcohol) (Table 47). The prevalence of having ever drunk alcohol was higher among female (65.3%) than male (61.4%) students; higher among black female (57.9%) and Hispanic female (68.6%) than black male (51.0%) and Hispanic male (63.4%) students, respectively; and higher among 9th-grade female (53.0%) than 9th-grade male (48.9%) students.
The prevalence of having ever drunk alcohol decreased during 1991–2007 (81.6%–75.0%) and then decreased more rapidly during 2007–2015 (75.0%–63.2%). The prevalence of having ever drunk alcohol did not change significantly from 2013 (66.2%) to 2015 (63.2%).
Nationwide, 17.2% of students had drunk alcohol (other than a few sips) for the first time before age 13 years.
Nationwide, 32.8% of students had had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey (i.e., current alcohol use) (Table 49). The prevalence of current alcohol use was higher among white (35.2%) and Hispanic (34.4%) than black (23.8%) students, higher among white female (35.3%) and Hispanic female (35.6%) than black female (25.9%) students, and higher among white male (35.2%) and Hispanic male (33.4%) than black male (22.1%) students.
Among the 32.8% of students nationwide who currently drank alcohol, 44.1% had usually obtained the alcohol they drank by someone giving it to them during the 30 days before the survey. Nationwide, 17.7% of students had had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (i.e., within a couple of hours) on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey.
Distilled Spirits Council noted that underage and binge drinking rates among high school students are at their lowest levels since the survey’s inception in 1991. The 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) also showed that underage and binge drinking has consistently declined at a statistically significant rate over the past decade.
“This long-term decline in underage and binge drinking is extremely encouraging,” said Distilled Spirits Council President & CEO Kraig R. Naasz. “Public-private partnerships, including those sponsored by the distilled spirits sector, are clearly working and we must continue these collective efforts in order to keep the momentum moving forward.”
More than 15,000 U.S. high school students participated in the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is one of three surveys sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services that track data on substance abuse among youth nationally.