Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages (such as non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic cocktails, and non-alcoholic wine) and alcohol drinking behavior among Japanese youths. Data from the Japan Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2011 were analyzed. The study subjects were 9775 high school students (5026 males and 4749 females) randomly selected from the 10th to the 12th grade in 102 high schools throughout Japan. The results indicated that the percentage of youths who had consumed non-alcoholic beverages was 25.8% among males (11.5%: “one time”; 14.3%: “two or more times”) and 26.1% among females (12.2%: “one time”; 13.9%: “two or more times”), which suggested that at least one in four Japanese high school students had consumed non-alcoholic beverages. Those students that had consumed non-alcoholic beverages were at a significantly higher risk for alcohol-related behaviors, including “ever drank alcohol”, “current alcohol use”, “current frequent alcohol use”, and “chugging”, when compared with students who had never consumed non-alcoholic beverages. The risk for alcohol-related behaviors was higher for students who had consumed non-alcoholic beverages two or more times than for those who had consumed them one time. Specifically, the odds ratio for “ever drank alcohol” in the “one time” group was 5.16 (95% CI: 4.22 - 6.30) for males and 4.27 (95% CI: 3.53 - 5.16) for females, while it was markedly high for those in the “two or more times” group, with males at 9.78 (95% CI: 7.88 - 12.14) and females at 7.59 (95% CI: 6.20 - 9.29). The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to continuously ascertain the prevalence of non-alcoholic beverage consumption among Japanese youths. In addition, alcohol drinking prevention in youths requires attention be paid not only to their consumption of alcoholic beverages, but also to their consumption of non-alcoholic beverages.
Highlights
It is known that when youths drink alcohol, they become more susceptible than adults to a number of health problems such as decreased brain function, liver and other organ dysfunction, and alcohol dependency [1] [2]
The correlation between non-alcoholic beverage consumption and alcohol drinking behavior was investigated first by dividing the subjects into three groups according to the consumption experience of non-alcoholic beverages (“no”, “one time”, and “two or more times”), calculating the percentages of subjects in each alcohol drinking behavior category according to gender and grade, and applying the chi-square test
The present study found that markedly higher percentages of both males and females who had consumed non-alcoholic beverages responded positively to “ever drank alcohol”, “current alcohol use”, “current frequent alcohol use”, and “chugging”
Summary
It is known that when youths drink alcohol, they become more susceptible than adults to a number of health problems such as decreased brain function, liver and other organ dysfunction, and alcohol dependency [1] [2]. In studies of Japanese youth, the number of students who start drinking alcohol increases starting in the upper grades of elementary school and that drinking behavior tends to become serious in students who start drinking early [7] [9]. It is clear, that alcohol drinking of youths is a serious problem and its prevention is one of the most important issues in school health
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