Abstract

Purpose: This study investigated the prevalence of drinking behavior among elementary students, and the results may serve as the basic data for developing a drinking prevention program. Method: For this study, questionnaires were given to 734 fourth, fifth and sixth graders in five elementary schools in U county, North Chungcheong Province. The data was were collected from December 8 to December 20, 2003 and the data was analyzed using SPSS/PC for the descriptive and chi-square statistics. Results: Of these students, 72.8% reported that they had drunk alcohol. They reported that the first drinking started during the third and fourth grade (37.8%), at family gatherings (41.0%), and by mistake (26.0%). They reported that alcohol was tasteless when they first drank (53.1%). The drinking experiences were significantly related to gender. Similarly, environmental characteristics such as the residential area, parental attention, the home atmosphere, and drinking parents were significantly related to drinking behavior. Among the non-drinkers, 70.5% intended not to drink and 6.5% reported they would like to drink in the future. Conclusion: This study suggests the necessity of developing drinking prevention programs with considering the students' demographic and environmental characteristics.

Keywords

• Drinking;
• Elementary school students;
• Rural community

• 음주;
• 초등학생;
• 농촌;