Helping adolescents make healthy lifestyle choices

Courier News, Home News Tribune, myCentralJersey.com

By Cinthia Weaver

The Greater Somerset Public Health Partnership (GSPHP) is a collaboration of all local health officers in Somerset County. As the public health "guardians" of Somerset County, one of our concerns is alcohol use among teenagers and young adults. This is why we have partnered with EmPoWER Somerset, Somerset’s Initiative for Partying Safely (SIPS).

According to a 2007 report from the Office of the Surgeon General, alcohol is used by more young people in the United States than tobacco or illicit drugs.

According to the 2007 Youth Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a national, anonymous survey of 9th- through 12th- grade students, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Nationwide, 44.7 percent of students had had at least one drink of alcohol on at least one day during the 30 days before the survey (i.e., current alcohol use).
26 percent of students had had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (i.e., within a couple of hours) on at least one day during the 30 days before the survey.
Adolescence is a time of transition, when the body is undergoing many significant changes, such as hormonal alterations and brain development. It is also a time when social contacts increase and young adults feel an increased pressure to "fit in" with their peers, often "going along with the crowd" in order to be accepted.

Further, adolescents establish critical patterns of behavior and make lifestyle choices that affect both their current and future health status.

Of particular concern with young adults is the resulting, more immediate high-risk behavior that may occur from feeling less inhibited. For example:

Drinking and driving: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 20.
Suicide: The third leading cause of death among people between the ages of 14 and 25. Alcohol use interacts with conditions such as depression and stress to contribute to increased suicide.
Sexual assault: Sexual assault, including rape, occurs most commonly among women in late adolescence and early adulthood. Research suggests that alcohol use by the offender, the victim or both increases the likelihood of sexual assault.
High-risk sexual behavior: Recent studies have linked high-risk sexual behavior and drinking. The probability of sexual intercourse is increased by drinking amounts of alcohol sufficient to impair judgment, but is decreased by drinking heavier amounts that result in feelings of nausea, passing out or mental confusion. The consequences of high-risk sex include unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
Learn more about this important public health concern and join the Greater Somerset Public Health Partnership and EmPoWER Somerset at a community forum on April 28 from 6 to 8 p.m., at Raritan Valley Community College. Help us raise community awareness that having a good time does not need to include alcohol.

To register, go to www.empowersomerset.com and click on the SIPS/HOPE Community Forum registration announcement on the right side of the home page in the "Did You Know?" box.

Cinthia Weaver is the health officer for the Township of Branchburg.