One in 25 Middle School Canadian Children Binge Drink

Four percent of middle school Canadian children consumed five or more alcoholic drinks at a go at least once in the previous year, a new study reveals.

 Intake of five or more alcoholic drinks in a short period of time triggers  a multitude of problem. In  recent years there has been an alarming rise in binge drinking among students. 
Providing further evidence of this is the new study from the University of Toronto that reveals one in 25 middle school children indulged in binge drinking at least once in the preceding year. Apart from this, the researchers also highlighted that the odds of binge drinking were twice as high among youth with three or more chronic conditions.

"We are particularly concerned that the young adolescents most likely to binge drink are those who have substantial physical health challenges" says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Chair at the University of Toronto's Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. "Clearly, pediatricians and other health professionals need to be particularly attentive to screening for binge drinking in these vulnerable youth."

For this study the researchers focused on a community based sample and looked at an array of factors related to binge drinking. The sample included 6,172 Canadians of ages 12-14 and the data was taken from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.

The researchers noticed that youth with mood disorders were three times more vulnerable to binge drinking. 

Co-author Matthew Sheridan, a manager at a children's mental health centre said, "This should signal that mental health is an important factor to consider in targeting outreach for binge drinking prevention and cessation programs."

The finding was documented in the journal ISRN Public Health.