Health risk behaviors practiced during adolescence often persist into adulthood and contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The youth risk behavior surveillance 2019 report was published as a supplement to the August 21, 2020 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This surveillance helps monitor the effectiveness of public health interventions designed to promote adolescent health.
According to the results of the survey alcohol use along with other drug use has declined among U.S. high school students between 2009 to 2019. However, among current substance use alcohol remains the most used drug at 29.2%, followed by marijuana at 21.7%.
- Binge alcohol use was reported to be 13.7%.
- Out of those who reported current alcohol use and binge alcohol use over half (54.8% and 61.2%, respectively) reported engaging in these behaviors on 1-2 days per week.
More under-age girls than boys consume alcohol
Alcohol use and heavy episodic alcohol use has become more prevalent in high school girls than boys. This is a worrying trend. Alcohol harm is proportionately greater for females than for males.
- Compared to boys, girls had a significantly higher prevalence of current alcohol use (31.9% versus 26.4%) and binge alcohol use (14.6% versus 12.7%).
The survey also found that approximately half of the substance use behaviors including alcohol use varied substantially by grade, with consistently higher prevalence among 11th- and 12th-grade students compared with 9th- and 10th-grade students.
DUI a serious danger among teens
Concerning data is revealed regarding driving under the influence of alcohol. In the last 30 days, prior to the survey, 16.7% reported being in a vehicle driven by someone under the influence of alcohol and 5.4% of the 60% who drove reported they had used alcohol before driving.
Some other important trends of substance use among high school students revealed by the survey include the following:
- Vaping has increased significantly from 13.2% in 2017 to 32.7% in 2019;
- In 2019, 6% smoked tobacco cigarettes, 5.7% smoked cigars, and 3.8% used smokeless tobacco; and
- 7.2% abused prescription opioids.
