One in Ten High School Seniors Indulge in Extreme Binge Drinking Sessions

About one in ten high school students engage in extreme binge drinking- the kind where teens drink over ten alcoholic drinks in one sitting.

The study, conducted by University of Michigan researchers found a high prevalence of binge drinking in high school seniors. Previous research has shown that about a quarter of college students indulge in binge drinking sessions.

For the study, experts used data from a nationally representative sample of over 16,000 high school seniors. These people were surveyed between 2005 and 2011 as part of the annual 'Monitoring the Future' Study conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

"More than one in ten high school seniors (10.5 percent) had 10 or more drinks in a row and more than one in 20 (5.6 percent) had 15 or more drinks in a row at least once in the last two weeks," said developmental psychologist Megan Patrick, lead author of the study.

In the study, a drink was either a 12-ounce can or bottle of beer; a 4-ounce glass of wine; a 12-ounce bottle or can of wine cooler; or a mixed drink, shot glass of liquor or an equivalent, according to a press release.

Researchers found that young men, especially of white ethnicity belonging to the Midwest were more likely to have extreme binge drinking sessions when compared to other students.

 "Alcohol use among adolescents is an enduring public health problem, and our findings regarding the rates of extreme binge drinking are particularly alarming," said Patrick.  "We hope that this study is helpful in drawing attention to the extent of extreme binge drinking among our nation's high school seniors."

The study is published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.