Binge Drinking Problematic Among Rural Teens
Binge drinking is often considered a problem in towns and cities, but a new study shows that binge drinking in rural areas is actually a bigger problem than originally thought. There have been many epidemiological investigations on binge drinking in adolescents across Europe, but data on the alcohol consumption of adolescents with different migration backgrounds are rare. There is also little research that compares alcohol consumption and binge drinking in rural and urban areas. For this study, the researchers wanted to examine drinking patterns with respect to both urban and rural areas and migration backgrounds.
The study, which surveyed 44,610 students in 9th grade throughout Germany, found that alcohol consumption differed significantly between rural and urban areas, with a higher prevalence in rural areas. About 93.7 percent of those in rural areas drank alcohol, compared to 86.6 percent in large cities and 89.1 percent in smaller cities. As for alcohol consumption, 57.3 percent of rural adolescents engaged in binge drinking in the four weeks prior to the survey, compared to 45.9 percent of urban adolescents.
Students with a migration background from the former Soviet Union had drinking behavior similar to German adolescents, and those with a migration background from Turkey had engaged in binge drinking less frequently in the last four weeks than German adolescents (23.6 percent versus 57.4 percent). The researchers noted that binge drinking is very prominent across the cultural backgrounds of those who drank during the last four weeks.
Binge drinking is common among German adolescents, and those who live in rural settings have fewer alternatives for leisure activities than those living in cities, which could be a reason for the increase in binge drinking among rural teens.
Dr. Carolin Donath said that while there is an awareness of the risks of binge drinking in towns and cities, this study shows that drinking and binge drinking are as great of a problem among rural teens.
These findings are important because they could help clinicians in rural areas raise awareness of the dangers of binge drinking and risky drinking, especially among adolescents. The adolescent brain is still developing, so drinking alcohol can alter the growth and development of crucial parts of the brain. The study could also help create targeted prevention programs for teens who live in rural areas.
Source: Science Daily, Rural Underage Binge Drinkers Put Their Health at Risk, German Study Finds, February 6, 2011
