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Prevention Action Alliance
Underage Drinking Patterns: A Look At Binge Drinking
Underage drinking occurs—we know this, and we work everyday to help
prevent it. However, we may not think enough about what that underage
consumption looks like.
According to the CDC, most people who consume alcohol underage are
binge drinking, typically consuming large amounts of alcohol in one
sitting.
So, what actually is binge drinking?
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge
drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent, or higher. Typically, this is 4 or
more drinks for women and 5 or more drinks for men, consumed in a
two-hour period. However, for younger drinkers, this amount of alcohol
is even less, closer to 3 drinks in a two-hour period.
This pattern of drinking leads to dangerous behavior from teens and
adults alike. The serious risks of binge drinking include car crashes,
blackouts, alcohol poisoning, violence towards oneself or someone else,
alcohol use disorder, sexually transmitted infections, and more.
Drinking affects every organ in the body, and binge drinking
intensifies the damage. Immune function is compromised after just one
episode of binge drinking and repeated binge drinking episodes can lead
to acute pancreatitis, liver disease, and more.
For teens, the risk of binge drinking includes harm to their developing brains.
While some teens may look fully grown, their brains are not yet
functioning as an adult brain would. Teens are guided more by their
emotions, led by a brain region called the amygdala. They have not get
gained full control of reasoning and executive planning. We see this in
the later stages of development as the frontal cortex region matures.
Binge drinking that occurs in this period can affect the sensitive
development of the frontal cortex and lead to social, memory, and
attention dysfunction, among other challenges. Binge drinking can even
disrupt gene regulation and promote anxiety and excessive drinking
behaviors later in life, according to a study by the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
All around, excessive drinking is safe for no one, especially teens.
Talk to your teens about the risks of underage drinking and about the
risks of binge drinking. Teach them to be safe, to do their own
research, and to be kind to their bodies when they are of legal
drinking age.
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