Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #100761

Carolyn C. Johnson, PhD¹, Sujuan Huang, MSPH¹, Neil W. Boris, MD¹, Leann Myers, PhD², and Larry S. Webber, PhD². (1) Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St., 23rd Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112, 504-585-4068, cjohnso5@tulane.edu, (2) Department of Biostatistics, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St., 20th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112

Alcohol use was evaluated among 9th graders (n=4763) in 20 Louisiana schools. Students were 51% female, 61% white; 33% African-American. Lifetime drinking was 79%; 30-day drinking was 48%. Students who both drank alcohol and smoked within the last 30 days was 20.1%. Thirty-day drinking prevalence did not differ by gender; however, more females than males had ever drunk (80.5% vs 77.3%, p=0.007). More whites had ever drunk (83.4% vs 70.7%) and drank in the last 30 days (53.3% vs 37.8%) than blacks (p=0.0001). Almost 25% reported binge drinking 1-5 times during the last two weeks and 64% said getting alcohol was easy. About 52% and 47% would not disapprove peers drinking 1-2 drinks every day or =>5 drinks every weekend; almost 50% thought friends would not disapprove of this drinking, but 57% did not approve of adult drinking. Three-fourths indicated there was slight-moderate risk in drinking 1-2 drinks every day; 29% said drinking =>5 drinks every weekend carried great risk, while 62% said there was only slight-moderate risk. High levels of alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, was observed among this sample of 9th-graders and race and smoking were correlated with alcohol use. Student attitudes were "accepting" regarding their own drinking, but not as accepting for adult drinking. While school policies are thought to deter underage drinking, greater effort is needed to educate students about the risks associated with alcohol consumption in order to achieve this goal

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will describe prevalence of alcohol use among a cohort of 9th graders in southern Louisiana.
• Participants will recognize, through data presented, the need for more education among youth about the risks associated with youth alcohol use.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.