[Nationwide survey on alcohol use among junior and senior high school students in Japan]

We conducted the first nationwide survey on alcohol use by Japanese junior and senior high school students using a representative sampling procedure. Sample schools were selected by stratified cluster sampling. Response rates for self-administered anonymous questionnaires sent to sample schools for all students to fill out were 65.6% for junior high schools and 67.0% for senior high schools. A total of 117,325 students responded and 115,814 questionnaires were subjected to analysis. The proportion of current alcohol use (drank alcohol on > = 1 of the 30 days preceding the survey) among seventh graders was 26.0% for boys and 22.2% for girls, and it increased with age to reach 54.9% for boys and 43.4% for girls in the twelfth grade. The experience rate of alcohol drinking on ceremonial occasions was much higher than for any other modes of drinking. However, the experience rates of drinking with peers at parties, in bars, and drinking alone increased with age. The proportion of heavy drinkers also increased with age. The cumulative experience rate of drinking with peers was dramatically increased in senior high school students. The most popular alcohol drink among boys was beer, whereas it was liquor with sweet taste among girls. Most important routes of purchase of alcohol were convenience stores, bars, liquor shops, and vending machines.