Abstract

SANCHEZ CORTES, Iván A; ROA SANCHEZ, Valentín; CARLOS, Gómez Alonso  and  RODRIGUEZ-OROZCO, Alain R. Prevalence of risky and harmful alcohol consumption in adolescents at an urban preuniversity institute of Morelia. Rev Cubana Pediatr [online]. 2008, vol.80, n.4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3119.

INTRODUCTION. The adolescence is a stage of physical and psychological changes, which are frequently accompanied with addictions to tobacco and alcohol. This paper was aimed at determining the prevalence of risky and harmful alcohol consumption in adolescents from an urban preuniversity institute in Mexico. METHODS. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) was applied to know the prevalence of risky and harmful alcohol consumption. The history of alcohol ingestion and intoxication in the parents of 315 adolescents of an urban preuniversity institute was investigated. RESULTS. 65.4 % of the total of adolescents were females. The most frequent age to begin drinking alcoholic beverages was 12 years old (46 of 315 adolescents; 14.6 %). Beer was the alcoholic beverage most commonly drunk by these adolescents (86.4 %). The consumption level categories showed a safe consumption in 255 adolescents (81 %), risky consumption in 54 (17.1 %) and harmful consumption in 6 (1.9 %). 85 adolescents referred that some of their parents frequently drank alcoholic beverages (27 %) and 65 of them (20.6 %) commented that they got drunk. CONCLUSIONS. The prevalence of alcohol consumption among young people is a regional health problem. It is necessary to develop health specific policies and programs to reduce its incidence and impact.

Keywords : Alcoholism; addiction; adolescents; risky and harmful alcohol consumption; prevalence.

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