Alcohol intake and binge drinking in adolescent university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2176-7262.rmrp.2025.219773Keywords:
Adolescents, University students, Binge drinking, Alcoholic beveragesAbstract
Objective: To investigate alcohol intake, associated factors, and the frequency of binge drinking in adolescent first-year university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with students at a public university in Northeast Brazil. Alcohol intake patterns were investigated through the following questions: “Do you consume alcoholic beverages?”. If affirmative: “How often?”; “What type of beverage?”; “How much during each drinking episode?”; “At what age did you begin drinking?” Binge drinking was defined as four or more drinks on a single occasion for women and five or more for men. Data were also collected on demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, dietary, and anthropometric characteristics as well as body composition. Results: Two hundred six students (71.4% females) participated in the study. Alcohol intake was reported by 48.1% of the sample, among whom 22.2% were classified as binge drinkers. A total of 69.5% of males reported alcohol intake compared to 39.5% of females (p = 0.0001). A tendency toward more frequent binge drinking was also found among males (p = 0.096). In the adjusted Poisson regression model, the male sex (adjusted PR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.12-2.33) and excess weight according to body mass index (BMI) (adjusted PR: 1.52; 95%CI: 1.09-2.57) remained independently associated with alcohol intake. In the comparison of characteristics between the two groups, non-binge drinkers had higher BMI, waist circumference, and percentage of body fat; these differences, although statistically significant, were not relevant and did not affect the nutritional diagnosis. Conclusion: The results show a high frequency of alcohol intake among adolescent university students associated with males and individuals with excess weight.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jéssica Cristina Guedes Lima da Silva, Priscila Prazeres de Assis, Gleyce Kelly de Araújo Bezerra, Adélia da Costa Pereira de Arruda Neta, Poliana Coelho Cabral
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