In the MMWR report, CDC researchers culled data from a youth risk behavior survey conducted in 2005 that focused on four states: Arkansas, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming. The number of teens surveyed ranged from 1,615 in Arkansas to 5,634 in New Mexico. The prevalence of drinking ranged from 42.3 percent in New Mexico to 45.4 percent in Wyoming.
In all the states in the survey, liquor was the most popular drink, ranging from 34.1 percent in Nebraska to 44.7 percent in Arkansas. This was followed by beer or malt liquor. Wine was the least popular drink, ranging from 1.6 percent in Arkansas and Wyoming to 3.1 percent in New Mexico.
With the exception of Nebraska, liquor was the most popular type of alcohol consumed by boys, followed by beer. Beer was the most popular drink among boys in Nebraska, followed by liquor, the researchers found.
Among girls, liquor was the most popular drink in all four states, followed by malt beverages and beer.
As for binge drinking, the prevalence ranged from 28.6 percent in New Mexico to 32 percent of teens in Wyoming. Liquor was the most popular drink for binge drinking in all four states and among both boys and girls, except in Nebraska, where beer was preferred by boys.
"These data also underscore the need to continue the use of evidence-based strategies to reduce youth drinking," the MMWR editors wrote. "Previous studies have indicated that certain strategies are effective, including improved enforcement of minimum legal purchasing-age laws [e.g., through compliance checks in which minors or youthful-looking adults attempt to purchase alcohol from retail establishments] and increased alcohol excise taxes," they added.
The researchers suggested several reasons why hard liquor might be preferable to beer among teens, reasons that included the fact that it's easier to hide alcohol consumption by pouring it into a soft drink, and that the taste might be more palatable to beginning drinkers. |
