Patterns of alcohol use among adolescents living in Porto Alegre, Brazil

A cross-sectional household survey was used to assess patterns of alcohol experimentation and consumption among Brazilian adolescents, stratified by age and sex. Trained interviewers administered a standardized questionnaire to 950 subjects, ages 10 to 18, which examined such things as age of first alcohol use, situational aspects of consumption, amounts ingested and use among peers. Lifetime prevalence of alcohol use was high (71.5%), especially in the older teens (94.4%). The mean age of first use was 10 years, and consumption of all types of alcohol, including hard liquor, was common. Alcohol use typically began in the home, at family celebrations and social occasions, and progressively evolved to street drinking with peers. This pattern was most evident in males, who reported a larger volume of alcohol consumption per episode, when compared to females. The total amount of alcohol consumption reported for all ages is very high and may be due to permissive cultural views of alcohol. Age and gender play an important role in the evolution of drinking, with male adolescents being exposed to higher concentrations of alcohol and at younger ages than females, who seem to have a more conservative attitude toward excessive drinking. Subjects considered these practices normal, with no concern about the illegality of such behaviors.