Teens who binge drink are twice as likely to end up as boozers in middle age, study reveals
TEENAGE party animals are twice as likely to end up as boozers in middle age, a study reveals.
Scientists believe they can predict who will be heavy drinkers in their 40s and 50s by studying their alcohol consumption at 18.
Professor Megan Patrick, from the University of Michigan in the US, said: “We found people who reported binge drinking in high school engaged in higher levels of alcohol use decades later.
“Among those who didn’t binge drink at age 18, only 20 per cent reported doing so in midlife.
“That compared with 40 per cent among those who did binge drink at age 18.”
The study — in the journal Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research — tracked 5,180 people from 1980 to 2005.
It found men drank more at every age, with 50 per cent admitting to tearing it up in their teens, compared to 30 per cent of women.
If someone had been a wild child, they drank an average of 2.3 drinks per session as an adult, compared to 1.3 drinks if they were a sober student.
They were twice as likely to binge drink in a given month as an adult, and twice as likely to report “high intensity drinking”.
Dr Patrick added: “While men drank more than women on all measures, the association between high school and midlife was stronger for women.
“We noted that alcohol use among women in midlife has risen steadily in recent years, while alcohol use among men has not.”