[Alcohol Consumption and Environmental Influence Among School Children]

Objective: The objective of this study was to know the attitude towards alcohol and its consumption among schoolchildren. We also studied the influence of the immediate environment.

Patients And Methods: Participants were a random sample of sixth and eight grade schoolchildren during the 1995 school year from our rural area (n = 14,537). Data were collected from a confidential and anonymous survey about attitude and alcohol consumption.

Results: We found that 63% of children had tried alcohol occasionally. Forty-seven percent of them drank on a regular basis. Furthermore, 8% of this group consumed beer daily. Among frequent drinkers, 20.4% had gotten drunk at some time and this was more frequent among boys (p < 0.01) and older students. Forty percent of children did not think alcohol was a drug. Regarding family environment, 37% of fathers consumed alcohol daily in contrast to 4% of mothers. Logistic-regression analyses showed an independent association between alcohol consumption and smoking habits.

Conclusions: A great number of schoolchildren and consumed alcohol occasionally. Boys and older students had gotten drunk more frequently than girls. Moreover, they believe that alcohol is not a drug and cannot perceive it as a harmful substance.