Do first-year students drink 55 glasses of alcohol per week?

*Disclaimer: Please note that parts of this blog have been automatically translated.*

Research by student collective ‘Dear Mark’ shows that a first-year student living away from home drinks an average of 55 glasses of alcohol per week,” wrote State Senator van Ooijen on Twitter on June 22¹.

He wrote this in response to a conversation with student associations and initiatives. On average 55 glasses per week, that means about 8 glasses of alcohol every day (7×8=56), or on 3 days a week about 18 glasses of alcohol (3×18=54). And if that is an average then it means that there are also (many) students who drink more than 55 glasses per week. That sounds almost impossible to me. At EenVandaag (AvroTros) they also thought this was such a high number that they wondered whether this was ‘fact or fiction’? To this end, they went into conversation with Martijn Janse (founder of ‘Lieve Mark’)². He explained that the survey was conducted among ±700 students, but that this was not a representative group of students. This is because the survey specifically focused on out-of-home college and university students, who, for example, live in student houses and are active in student life. Recently, we listed the numbers of the Healthy Student Life³ project regarding alcohol consumption among students (N=~3600 students from Radboud University)⁴. In May/June 2022, male students drank an average of over 9 glasses of alcohol per week, and female students drank over 5 glasses of alcohol per week (total group, not selected by living situation). This is much less than the 55 glasses from the “Dear Mark” research survey. Still, we already found our own numbers worrisome because students seem to be catching up after the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol consumption even higher than before the pandemic⁴. Naturally, this made me curious about the influence of living situation on alcohol use in the Healthy Student Life project. What turns out? Students living away from home do indeed drink significantly more than students living at home (with their parents). We also found this in previous research (during the COVID-19 pandemic)⁵. Furthermore, we found that Bachelor students, on average, drink more than Master students. The highest average was 13 glasses per week for male Bachelor students living with roommates (i.e., in dorms, for example). Extreme numbers of more than 55 glasses per week were reported by only 12 out of 3592 students (0.3%). Despite there being differences between the Dear Mark survey and the Healthy Student Life project in terms of (a) participants (recruited through student organizations versus a more representative student population), (b) outcomes (much higher average alcohol consumption in the Dear Mark survey than the Healthy Student Life project) and (c) the timing of the survey (recent versus a year ago) the fact is that alcohol consumption and student life are inextricably linked. There seem to be subgroups that drink more than other groups. For example, our Healthy Student Life data also shows that 1 in 10 students (10.4%) have never drunk alcohol. Because high alcohol consumption can have harmful consequences such as blackouts, unsafe sexual behavior, study problems, depression and anxiety⁶, it is important to moderate alcohol consumption among (subgroups of) students. This is also one of the goals of the National Prevention Agreement⁷. But how? First of all, I think it can only succeed if prevention and intervention strategies are developed together with students and secondly, I think it is important to respond to the social drinking norm (students think their fellow students drink more than they actually do and therefore start drinking more themselves). If this succeeds then a report about students drinking 55 glasses of alcohol per week will hopefully be dismissed as fiction in the future. This blog was written by Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Vink (Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University) for RAD-blog, the blog on smoking, alcohol, drugs & diet.   References

1. Quote van Maarten van Ooijen op twitter:   https://twitter.com/MaartenOoijen/status/1671884759126142983?s=20 
2. Feit of fictie: drinken eerstejaars uitwonende studenten 55 glazen alcohol per week? NPO radio 1. https://www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/eenvandaag/e29e3c58-62ea-4a14-b73d-a6bcdc4bed3a/2023-06-23-feit-of-fictie-drinken-eerstejaars-uitwonende-studenten-55-glazen-alcohol-per-week%20%20%20%20%20%204.
3. Healthy Student Life project. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud Universiteit. https://www.ru.nl/bsi/research/group-pages/healthy-student-life/
4. Jacqueline Vink. Na corona drinken studenten eerder meer dan minder.  Socialevraagstukken.nl https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/na-corona-drinken-studenten-eerder-meer-dan-minder/
5. . van Hooijdonk KJM, Rubio M, Simons SSH, van Noorden THJ, Luijten M, Geurts SAE, Vink JM. Student-, Study- and COVID-19-Related Predictors of Students’ Smoking, Binge Drinking and Cannabis Use before and during the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown in The Netherlands. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 12;19(2):812. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19020812.
6. Jongeren en alcohol: extra gezondheidsrisico’s en maatschappelijke kosten. Website Trimbos-instituut. https://www.trimbos.nl/kennis/alcohol/alcohol-en-studenten/gezondheidsrisicos-van-alcohol-bij-studenten-en-maatschappelijke-kosten/
7. Nationaal Preventie Akkoord. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/gezondheid-en-preventie/nationaal-preventieakkoord