Reducing Adverse Effects of Booze and College

BrooklynDodger is reacting to a recent WP article about astinence education for alcohol among teenagers. A recent scientific publication which the Dodger hasn't taken the time to find reported that adolescents who report binge drinking were more likely to suffer alcoholism in later life. That's sort of like proving that people with backaches now are more likely to have backaches in the future than those who don't.

First, there's no question in the scientific literature that people who report "moderate" alcohol consumption enjoy longer life and improvedc ognitive function in later life, compared to people who report not drinking at all. This is consistent across many studies in many contexts.

The level of reported consumption which produces a result equivalent to the population who report not drinking at all is fuzzy in this literature. It may be very high, for persons who are able to control high blood pressure,weight, diabetes, and don't drive too drunk too often. The following abstract suggests an improved way of attacking the adverseside effects of heavy drinking in college. It's campus volunteerism, joining organizations and providing service. The investigators report that such activity is able to counteract the adverse effect of belonging to fraternities and sororities.


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J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005 Apr;59(4):303-9.

Risk modifying effect of social capital on measures of heavy alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, harms, and secondhand effects: national survey findings.

Weitzman ER, Chen YY. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 401 Park Drive, PO Box 15678, Boston, MA 02215, USA. eweitzma@hsph.harvard.edu.