Contents

Too Smart To Start SmartSTATS: a Data Book

What do we know about 9- to 13-year-olds?

National Population Trends

• Nine- to thirteen-year-olds comprise more than 7 percent of the U.S. population. (FERRET)* (* a full reference can be found here)
  
  
• There are an estimated 21 million 9- to 13-year-olds living in the United States. (FERRET)
• The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that there will be 21.3 million 9- to 13-yearolds by the year 2020. (NP-D1-A)

Nine- to thirteen-year-olds comprise a racially and ethnically diverse group.

• More than one-third (37.4 percent) of all 9- to 13-year-olds are persons of color. According to the January 2002 Census Bureau Population Survey, 16 percent are Hispanic, 16 percent are Black, 4 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 percent are Native American. The remaining 63 percent are White. (FERRET)
• U.S. Census Bureau projections indicate that the 9- to 13-year-old population will become even more diverse by 2020, with the largest increases expected in the Hispanic population. (NP-D1-A)

Family backgrounds are varied.

• Families are becoming smaller. (FIELDS)
• Forty-one percent of children under age 18 have no siblings in the home. (FIELDS)
• Thirty-eight percent have only one sibling in the home. (FIELDS)

Racial/Ethnic Diversity Among 9- 20 13-Year-Olds, Current and Projected

2002
White (non-hispanic) - 62.6%
Black - 15.8%
Hispanic - 16.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander - 4.1%
Native American - 1.3%

2010
White (non-hispanic) - 59.6%
Black - 13.9%
Hispanic - 20.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander - 5.5%
Native American - .9%

2010
White (non-hispanic) - 55.5%
Black - 14.4%
Hispanic - 22.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander - 6.3%
Native American - 1.0%

• People have been delaying marriage and divorce rates have been increasing, which has resulted in a growing number of single-parent households. (FIELDS)
• Fifty-five percent of 9- to 13-year-olds are being raised in households with annual incomes of at least $40,000, 26 percent are being raised in households with annual incomes of $20,000 to $39,999, and 18 percent are being raised in households with annual incomes of less than $20,000. (FERRET)
• Of the 21 million 9- to 13-year-olds resident in the United States, 1.2 million (6 percent) are foreign-born. Moreover, 18 percent of U.S.-born children have at least one foreign-born parent. (FERRET)
• Among 9- to 14-year-olds, approximately 69 percent live in homes where both parents are present*, 23 percent live with their mother, 4 percent live with their father, and another 4 percent have neither parent present in the home. Of those with neither parent present, 51 percent live with a grandparent. (C2)

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs about Alcohol

Students in grades four through eight believe that alcohol use is harmful to their health.

• Among elementary school students (grades four through six), belief in the harm associated with alcohol use increases with increasing grade level. (PRIDE)
• Among junior high school students (grades six through eight), belief in the harm associated with alcohol consumption decreases with increasing grade level. (PRIDE)
• Within each grade level, students are most likely to believe that liquor is harmful to their health, followed by beer, and then by wine coolers. (PRIDE) Fourth- to sixth-grade elementary school students also believe that alcohol use by children their age is not OK.

Fourth- to sixth-grade elementary school students also believe that alcohol use by children their age is not OK.

Percentage of 4th through 8th Graders Who Believe Liquor, Beer, and Wine Coolers Are Harmful to Your Health (PRIDE)

Liquor
4th Graders - 83.9%
5th Graders - 88.9%
6th Graders (Elementary) - 92.1%
6th Graders (Junior High) - 95.7%
7th Graders - 94.8%
8th Graders - 93.4%

Beer
4th Graders - 80.2%
5th Graders - 85.4%
6th Graders (Elementary) - 88.8%
6th Graders (Junior High) - 93.6%
7th Graders - 92.3%
8th Graders - 90.8%

Wine Coolers
4th Graders - 77.4%
5th Graders - 81.0%
6th Graders (Elementary) - 82.6%
6th Graders (Junior High) - 85.8%
7th Graders - 82.6%
8th Graders - 79.1%

• When students in grades four through six were asked whether it was OK for children their age to use alcohol, most said no. (PRIDE)
• Students make a distinction between the acceptability of various types of alcohol. Wine coolers were most likely to be OK (6 percent), followed by beer (4 percent), and then liquor, which was the least likely to be considered OK for children their age (2 percent). (PRIDE)

Junior high school students (grades six through eight) discuss alcohol-related issues with their parents and teachers, but not with their friends.

• Seventy percent reported that their parents and 71 percent reported that their teachers talk with them about alcohol/drugs sometimes, often or a lot. (PRIDE)
• Thirty-three percent say that their friends talk with them about alcohol/ drugs sometimes, often or a lot. (PRIDE)
  
  

Students in grades four through eight understood the harmful effects of alcohol on young people. Almost all youth surveyed reported that drinking causes some type of physical harm, though the severity of harm varied by age.

• Fourth- through sixth-graders associated the most serious consequences: “death,” “auto accidents,” and “makes you commit murder.”
• Sixth- through eighth-graders (and a few of the younger group) focused more on individual behavioral changes, including violent and unpredictable acts. (SAMHSA/CSAP)
  
  

Use and Perceptions of Alcohol

The majority of 9- to 13-year-olds does not use alcohol, however, alcohol use varies by grade level and by type of alcohol.

• When students were asked whether they had consumed alcohol within the past year, most said they had not. (PRIDE)
• Past-year consumption of wine coolers ranged from 6 percent in the fourth grade to 36 percent in the eighth grade. (PRIDE)
• Past-year consumption of beer ranged from 6 percent in the fourth grade to 34 percent in the eighth grade. (PRIDE)
• Past-year consumption of liquor ranged from a low of 2 percent among fourth graders to a high of 27 percent among eighth graders. (PRIDE)

Even though few fourth to sixth graders report consuming alcohol, some report that their friends do use alcohol.

• When asked how many of their friends consumed beer, 17 percent of fourth- to sixth-grade students and 44 percent of sixth- to eighth-grade students reported having friends who drink beer. (PRIDE)
• Fifteen percent of elementary (fourth through sixth grade) and 39 percent of junior high school (sixth through eighth grade) students reported having friends who drink wine coolers. (PRIDE)
• Eight percent of the younger elementary school (fourth through sixth grade) students and 31 percent of the older junior high school (sixth through eighth grade) students responded that they had friends who consume liquor. (PRIDE)

Though they are not reporting current use of alcohol, some students expect that they will drink alcohol in the future.

• When asked whether they thought that they would ever consume alcohol, 76 percent of students in the fourth grade reported that they will never drink beer, 77 percent reported that they will never drink wine coolers, and 91 percent reported that they will never drink liquor. (PRIDE)

As grade levels increase, however, students were less likely to predict abstention from alcohol.

• Among fifth graders, proportions who predicted staying away from alcohol ranged from 70 percent for beer, 68 percent for wine coolers, and 87 percent for liquor. (PRIDE)
• Among sixth graders in elementary school, 63 percent reported that they would never drink beer, 60 percent that they would never drink wine coolers, and 80 percent that they would never drink liquor. (PRIDE)

Underage Alcohol Consumption and the Developing Brain

Alcohol consumption is associated with structural damage to the brain. (Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free)

• Results of autopsy studies show that individuals with a history of chronic alcohol consumption have smaller, lighter, more shrunken brains than nonalcoholic adults of the same age and gender.
• Alcohol differs from illicit drugs in the complexity of its actions on the brain and other organs. While most illicit drugs work on one or several brain neurotransmitters, alcohol influences multiple neurotransmitter systems and brain circuits in ways that may differ from one consumer to the next.
• Moderate consumption of alcohol affects the function of a variety of brain systems associated with emotion, learning, motivation, and coordination.
• It takes less alcohol to damage a young brain than to damage a fully mature one, and the young brain is damaged more quickly.

Repeated exposure to alcohol can produce long-lasting changes in adolescent behavior. (Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free)

• The hippocampus, the part of the brain where new memories are consolidated from short-term memory to long-term memory, plays a role in how we learn.
• MRIs used to assess the size of the hippocampus in subjects with adolescent-onset alcohol use disorders and in normal comparison subjects showed that the longer one abused alcohol, the smaller the hippocampus became.
• Research suggests that the adolescent hippocampus is sensitive to the effects of alcohol, and that the earlier in adolescence one begins abusing alcohol, the greater the risk for producing hippocampal damage.
• Studies indicate that alcohol-dependent teens have impaired memory, altered perception of spatial relationships, and verbal skill deficiencies.
• Cognitive impairments have been detected in adolescent alcohol abusers weeks after they stop consuming alcohol. The causes of these longlasting changes are unclear, but they might involve brain damage and/or alterations in normal brain development.

Consequences of Underage Alcohol Use

Nine- to thirteen-year-old youth who disregard the known harms associated with alcohol use risk a number of serious and potentially life-threatening consequences, including the likelihood of being involved in unsafe activities.

Dependency and Depression

• Youth who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence as compared to those who wait until the age of 21. Each additional year of delayed drinking onset reduces the probability of alcohol dependence by 14 percent. (Grant)
• Students diagnosed with alcohol abuse were found to be four times more likely to experience major depression than those without an alcohol problem. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997)

Academic Performance

• A lower dose of alcohol will damage a young brain quickly as compared to a fully mature brain. Alcohol consumption during adolescence is linked with a reduced ability to learn compared to no exposure until adulthood. (Swartzwelder, Wilson, & Tayyeb)

Anatomy of the Brain

Cerebrum - Largest portion of the brain, including the cerebral hemispheres (cerebral cortex and basal ganglia); involved in controlling consciousness and voluntary processes

Corpus callosum - A bundle of fibers connecting the brain’s hemispheres

Hippocampus - Part of the limbic system, which is involved in emotional aspects of survival behavior; also plays a role in memory

Basal ganglia -A group of structures lying deep in the brain involved in movement and cognition

Cerebellum Involved in maintenance of posture, balance, and coordination

Cortex - Outer layer of gray matter covering the surface of the cerebrum and the cerebellum

Neocortex - Outermost portion of the cerebral cortex that contains the most structurally complex brain tissue

Diencephalon
Septal area – related to the limbic system which is involved in emotional aspects of survival behavior

Thalamus – a communication center that relays information to the cerebral cortex

Hypothalamus – important in maintaining the body’s internal environment, or homeostasis, through the receipt of sensory and chemical input

Source: Mattson, SN et al. MR and prenatal exposure images provide insight into FAS. Alcohol Health Research World 18(1):49-52, 1994

Long-term Health

• Youth who drink heavily assume the same long-term health risks as adults who drink heavily. This means they are at increased risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, hemorrhagic stroke, and certain forms of cancer. (National Institute in Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1993)

Behavioral Problems and Crime

• Adolescents who use alcohol are more likely to become sexually active at an earlier age, to have sex more often, and to engage in unprotected sex, which places them at greater risk of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. (Office of the Inspector General)
• Alcohol use is linked with youthful deaths by drowning, fire, suicide, and homicide. In particular, alcohol use among youth has been associated with considering, planning, attempting, and completing suicide. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997 and 2000)
• Young people who drink are more likely than others to be victims of violent crime, including rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2000)