Los Angeles teenagers, especially those in the 12-to-14 age category could possibly be at risk for binge drinking.
According to a new study that was conducted in Canada, binge drinking is not confined to college or high school students. The findings of the study were published recently in the Journal ISRN Public Health, and were based on a study of approximately 6,200 children in 2005. The study found that approximately 4% of the 12-to-14-year-old population in that country represented in the survey admitted to binge linking at least once over the past year.
Binge drinking is a phenomenon in which a person drinks several alcoholic beverages in a single session. For an adult male, the number of alcoholic beverages that must be consumed is five alcoholic beverages. Binge drinking is a highly undesirable behavior, because it increases the risks of intoxicated driving. A driver who has drunk excessively may be too drunk to drive responsibly behind the wheel.
The researchers found that some young teenagers may be at a much higher risk of binge drinking than older teens. They found that teenagers who were currently struggling with three or more physical health conditions were also at a much higher risk of binge drinking. Among this category of teenagers, the risk was approximately twice as high.
It’s highly likely that similar findings would be discovered in this country as well. Binge drinking among teenagers is a highly underestimated problem in the U.S. It’s no secret that teenagers drink alcohol even when they are not of the minimum age for drinking, and underage drinking is definitely a challenge that colleges, universities, schools and communities need to tackle more strongly.
