Binge Drinking and Sports

This interests me, because I have always had the opinion that in general, if a student is taking part in extra-curricular activities, there is less unstructured free time in which to engage in risky behavior. I know that some sports teams do have a culture of partying which can add to risky behavior, but on the whole, I would think that drinking would be less in students who play sports. Of course, only the guys drink more when they play sports; the girls have a lower instance of binge drinking when they are athletes.

I would love to see more about this in further research, but if the trend they report is correct, what does this say about our culture of athletics? I've always worried about students who go on to play college sports, because I know firsthand how college athletes can tend to party. However, I usually encourage participation in athletics in junior high and high school, especially with students who usually find not-so-healthy extra-curricular activities to take part in with their free time.

The boys playing team sports reported binge-drinking rates 40 percent higher and fighting 30 percent more often than nonathletes, according to the news release. The athlete boys also showed 30 percent lower rates of depression and 20 percent less smoking.

The girls showed no link to drinking in the study, the research reported. The athletic girls showed 10 percent lower rates of fighting, 30 percent less depression, 50 percent less smoking and 10 percent less unhealthy weight loss habits compared with nonathlete girls, the study found.

H/T: The Journal of Student Ministries

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