Drinking Danger

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Note to parents: if you are thinking of offering your teenagers some holiday wine or spiked eggnog this season, you might consider the latest study from the University of Buffalo. Researchers surveyed the drinking habits of 2,200 Americans and found that the younger their subjects were when they had their first drink, the more likely they were to abuse alcohol as adults. The scientists were even able to quantify the risk: for every year earlier that an adolescent starts imbibing, the chances of becoming a problem drinker increase 12%. They also found that kids who begin drinking as teens are more likely to become seriously intoxicated during routine drinking episodes later in life, presumably because they need more alcohol to get high.