Underage drinking is a public health issue

The first recorded “public health” movement began in the late 1840’s in Germany to combat outbreaks of typhoid and cholera and with the formation of the American Medical Association in 1847, states began to keep statistics and form public health agencies to address diseases and illness.  These and other changes have shaped our current public health system that implement science and practices to improve the health of communities through prevention, education, and monitoring “environmental hazards.”  We can apply the same tenets of public health to address underage drinking, which is both a public health and mental health issue–and is preventable.

The “three Es” of effective prevention are education, enforcement, and environmental change.  First, we must educate youth about the impact of alcohol on their developing brains and bodies, and we must educate adults about the liabilities and responsibilities of providing alcohol to minors.  Secondly, current alcohol laws must be consistently and continually enforced to change irresponsible behavior.  Finally, it is crucial that we examine the environment that promotes and facilitates underage drinking and develop policies and laws to address them.  We can improve and protect the mental and physical health of our children by ensuring that alcohol, the most widely used drug by teens, remains a regulated drug.  Increasing hours and days of sale for alcoholic beverages would enhance the current lenient retail environment which allows for the sale of alcohol to a minor in one out of every three instances.

Underage drinking is a public health epidemic with tremendous personal, social, and economic costs.  As with the flu or other epidemics, control of the environment and mitigating factors are critical to improving and protecting health. Underage drinking is an epidemic we can control – not to do so is contrary to our public health.