An increasing number of first-year students are abstaining from drinking alcohol, according to an online survey by Outside The Classroom, an organization that provides alcohol training at colleges and institutions across the United States.
Outside The Classroom CEO Brandon Busteed said the survey showed an increase in students who had not consumed alcohol during the periods of the preceding two weeks, 30 days or one year. Of surveyed incoming first-year college students across the United States, 62 percent indicated they had not consumed alcohol during the last two weeks, indicating a 24-percent increase since 2006.
Outside The Classroom collected data from one-third of the nation's incoming college freshman in the summer of 2010, amounting to more than 500,000 students, Busteed said.
The 2010 Health Promotion Survey, conducted annually by the University to assess student attitudes toward usage of alcohol, revealed similar findings, said Adrienne Keller, associate public health sciences professor. The survey shows a 5.9-percent decrease in first-year students at the University who have consumed alcohol during the last year, Keller said in an e-mail. In 2010, 20.9 percent of first-years at the University admitted to having consumed alcohol in the past year, Keller said. In 2009, 26.8 percent of surveyed first-years admitted to the same behavior, she added.
Still, Keller warns against jumping to conclusions from these findings.
Because the survey results fluctuate often, "we cannot say that the number of first years who abstain has increased over the years," Keller said.
The Health Promotion Survey is coordinated in the spring of each year by the Office of Health Promotion at Student Health. It collects data from a stratified random sample of 2,000 University undergraduates meant to reflect the diversity of the undergraduate population, Keller said.
Busteed said he believes the findings of his company's survey do suggest freshman drinking rates are decreasing significantly.
"We know from the studies that the trend is real," he said. "What no one can say for sure is why."
Keller said there are many possible reasons why a student may choose not to drink.
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