Foreign studies linked to increase in drinking
Source: Agencies |
October 13, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
STUDENTS who go abroad while in college are likely to increase, or even double, their alcohol intake while they are away, a recent study by researchers at the University of Washington in the United States has found.
Of the several thousand UW students who study abroad each year, 177 answered a questionnaire before they went away and on their return.
On average, those students doubled their drinking while abroad, but most cut back to an average of three to five drinks a week when they had returned to America. A subset of students who traveled to the Middle East where drinking is not as prevalent, reported their alcohol intake having decreased while abroad.
Students under the legal drinking age in the USA increased their drinking while abroad by about 170 percent, the study found, the overall increase was about 105 percent for students of all ages.
Henry Wechsler, of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the conclusion that location is an important element in shaping drinking behavior is consistent with his own department's research.
"We found that students in America tend to drink at the same levels as young people in the states where the colleges are located. What seems to be happening here is that being away from the home environment of the college may create a kind of 'spring break' atmosphere," he said.
Since an increase in college student deaths related to drinking in the 1990s, more research has focused on the alcohol intake of students. This study at UW points to more areas that need to be examined, said Bob Saltz of the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley, California.
Saltz said the next step is to use this information to find ways of preventing students from getting into trouble with alcohol while studying abroad. Were they having a beer with lunch or a glass of wine with dinner, or was it something more?
He said that several recent studies have found success at decreasing student drinking while in the United States.
Of the several thousand UW students who study abroad each year, 177 answered a questionnaire before they went away and on their return.
On average, those students doubled their drinking while abroad, but most cut back to an average of three to five drinks a week when they had returned to America. A subset of students who traveled to the Middle East where drinking is not as prevalent, reported their alcohol intake having decreased while abroad.
Students under the legal drinking age in the USA increased their drinking while abroad by about 170 percent, the study found, the overall increase was about 105 percent for students of all ages.
Henry Wechsler, of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the conclusion that location is an important element in shaping drinking behavior is consistent with his own department's research.
"We found that students in America tend to drink at the same levels as young people in the states where the colleges are located. What seems to be happening here is that being away from the home environment of the college may create a kind of 'spring break' atmosphere," he said.
Since an increase in college student deaths related to drinking in the 1990s, more research has focused on the alcohol intake of students. This study at UW points to more areas that need to be examined, said Bob Saltz of the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley, California.
Saltz said the next step is to use this information to find ways of preventing students from getting into trouble with alcohol while studying abroad. Were they having a beer with lunch or a glass of wine with dinner, or was it something more?
He said that several recent studies have found success at decreasing student drinking while in the United States.
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