The risky-behavior gender gap narrows

HISTORICALLY, young males have had a significant edge over girls in a wide range of risky behaviors, among them, binge drinking and failure to wear seat belts. As a result, young men have been far more likely than young women to die in car crashes. Now emergency department physicians from UC Irvine Medical Center have found that, although boys still drink, fail to use seat belts and die in car crashes more often than girls, girls began to narrow the gap in all measures between 1995 and 2004.

By Melissa Healy

May 21, 2007