OTTAWA — One in five Canadian high-school students consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks, a new national survey has found.
The consumption of these mixed drinks, characterized by the researchers as “substantial” among high-schoolers, is an emerging public health concern that requires more effective strategies than “top-down, abstinence-based programs,” the study, published Tuesday in CMAJ Open, a new online journal of the Canadian Medical Association, states.
“At the policy level, this may take the form of a flat tax on energy drinks, or a variable tax reflective of caffeine content.”
Schools and community services could also adopt “innovative harm-reduction approaches,” with the help of social media, “to encourage youth not to mix alcohol with energy drinks, without directly focusing on the use of either substance, per se.”
The study added: “School and clinicians need to be aware of the extent of the consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks among Canadian youth and play a major role in educating and directing young people away from this potentially dangerous practice.”
Mixing caffeine, a stimulant, with a depressant like alcohol can mask impairment, and the practice of mixing the two has been associated in other studies with greater risk-taking, higher volumes of alcohol consumption in one sitting and increased risk of injury, the study notes.
The research team from Dalhousie University’s faculty of medicine used the nationally representative sample of over 36,000 students in grades 7 to 12 who participated in the Health Canada-funded Youth Smoking Survey of 2010-11. The survey, which does not include students living on Native reserves, the territories and the province of New Brunswick, asked respondents whether they had consumed mixed or premixed (sold in a bottle or can) alcohol with an energy drink in the past 12 months
Overall, 21.5 per cent of male students and 18.5 per cent of female students reported mixing alcohol with energy drinks, for an average of about 20 per cent.
The study found “considerable” variation among provinces. Students in British Columbia (25.8 per cent) and Nova Scotia (25.6 per cent) reported the highest rates of consumption, followed by Newfoundland and Alberta, both with rates of less than 24 per cent.
Saskatchewan came in at around the national average, while Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island ranged with rates between 19 and 16 per cent.
The consumption of these drinks also varied considerably among certain groups of students, the study found.
For example, mixing alcohol with energy drinks was higher among students who were younger, had used marijuana, were frequently absent from school, were involved in sports and had more spending money.
能不能再给一个比较全面总结性的summary给我？？
追答我是按你的要求整理的SUMMARY。一两百字的。
如果你真要总结性的 一句话即可。A survey in Canada found that one fifth of Canadian high school students drink mixed alcohol with energy drinks。
我精简如下：
The Health Canada-funded Youth Smoking Survey of Nov., 2010 in Canada found that one fifth of Canadian high school students drank mixed alcohol with energy drinks. And the comsumption of mixed
drinks is substantial.
The distribution of these students shows a kind of variation among provinces and certain group of students. Students who were younger, frequently absent from school, involved in sports and had more spending money are more likely to consume mixing alcohol with energy drinks..
This has become an emerging public health concern and requires effective strategies like flat tax on energy drink or variable tax reflective of caffeine content. Also school and clinicians should play a major role in educating and directing
young people away from this potentially dangerous practice.
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追答1. WHY'RE SO MANY STUDENTS CONSUME MIXED ALCOHOL WITH ENERGY DRINKS?
2. HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
3. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS IN CHINA?