Alcohol

Facts & Statistics on Underage Drinking

• Excessive drinking is responsible for more than 3,500 deaths and 210,000 years of potential life lost among people under age 21 each year.
• Although drinking by persons under the age of 21 is illegal, people aged 12 to 20 years drink 4% of all alcohol consumed in the United States.  More than 90% of this alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks.
• On average, underage drinkers consume more drinks per drinking occasion than adult drinkers.
• ​Youth who drink alcohol are more likely to experience
  • School problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades.
  • Social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities.
  • Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk.
  • Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses.
  • Unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity.
  • Disruption of normal growth and sexual development.
  • Physical and sexual assault.
  • Higher risk for suicide and homicide.
  • Alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning.
  • Memory problems.
  • Abuse of other drugs.
  • Changes in brain development that may have life-long effects.
  • Death from alcohol poisoning.​

​​Sources: 

https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinkin

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drink