ATID Use Among Nebraska Youth

Of the 2,098 Nebraska Young people surveyed in grades 9-12...

Alcohol

Alcohol is a major contributing factor in approximately half of all motor vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides, which are the leading causes of death and disability among young people.

Heavy drinking among young people has been linked to multiple sexual partners, the use of marijuana, and poor academic performance in school.

• 82% of the 9th - 12th grade students surveyed in 1999 had at least one drink of alcohol during their lives.
• More than half had at least one or more drinks of alcohol on one or more of the last 30 days.
• 26% had their first drink of alcohol prior to age 13.

In Nebraska in 1998, 28% of all fatal alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes involved drivers between the ages of 15 and 20. Nebraska's legal age is 21.

• 60% of the respondents in this 1999 YRBS who had driven a car or other motor vehicle after drinking alcohol had done it two or more times in the past 30 days.
• 46% of the young people in grades 9 - 12 in this survey said they had ridden in a car in the past 30 days with a driver who had been drinking.

Obesity, Dieting, and Eating Disorders

Methods Used to Lose Weight or to Keep From Gaining Weight...
In the past 30 days...

Males:

Exercised - 47
Ate less food, fewer calories, low-fat food - 20
Went without eating for 24 or more hours - 6
Took diet pills, powders, or liquids without Dr.'s advice - 3
Vomited or took laxatives - 2

Females:

Exercised - 76
Ate less food, fewer calories, low-fat food - 63
Went without eating for 24 or more hours - 18
Took diet pills, powders, or liquids without Dr.'s advice - 10
Vomited or took laxatives - 7

Other Drugs

• 21% of the boys and 13% of the girls in grades 9 - 12 said someone had offered them an illegal drug on school property during the past 12 months.
• 15% of the boys and 11% of the girls had sniffed glue, aerosols, spray cans, or other inhalants one or more times in their lifetimes.

Sexual Behavior

• Alcohol and other drug use may serve as predisposing factors for initiating sexual activity and unprotected intercourse.
• Nationwide AIDS is the 6th leading cause of death for youth aged 15 - 24.
• In 1998, 1,332 Nebraska teens aged 13 - 17 became pregnant; 846 delivered and 479 obtained an abortion.

Exercise and Sports

Percentages of 9th - 12th grade students who...
Exercised at least 20 minutes to sweat or breathe hard on at least 3 of past 7 days:

Male: 77
Female: 61

Enrolled in PE and exercised or played sports for more than 20 minutes during class:

Male: 83
Female: 78

Tobacco

Percentage of students who smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days:

Total: 37
Male: 38
Female: 37
9th Grade: 22
10th Grade: 40
11th Grade: 45
12th Grade: 43

Violence

Percentage of students who...
Were is a physical fight one or more times in the past 12 months:

Male: 41
Female: 20

Percentage of students who...
Carried a weapon such as a gun, knife or club on one of more of the past 30 days:

Male: 28
Female: 3

Complete PDF File

Reference: "The 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of Nebraska Adolescents." Data gathered by the Buffalo Beach Company under a subcontract with the Nebraska Health and Human Services System. A publication of the Nebraska Health and Human Services (NHHS) Tobacco Free Nebraska Program (TFN), Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, July 2000.

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