S.D. Teens Drink, Smoke Less Than Peers

San Diego high school students exercise more often, and fewer drink or smoke tobacco than their peers across the United States, a major survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows.

But they also are more likely to use marijuana and cocaine and bring weapons to school.

The numbers are about equal in San Diego and nationally when it comes to students having sex or worrying about their weight or considering suicide.

The findings are part of exhaustive data compiled by the federal center for its 1991 Youth Risk Behavior survey. The 75 questions covered student behavior regarding sex, drugs and alcohol, physical fitness, and risk-taking such as driving drunk or failing to use helmets while riding a motorcycle.

National statistics show that 68% of all deaths for persons ages 1-24 result from four causes: motor vehicle crashes, 33%; homicides 10%; suicide 10%; and non-vehicle injuries 15%. Drugs, drinking and weapons use contribute in major ways to these causes.

San Diego Unified--the nation’s eighth-largest urban system--was among 16 urban and rural district across the country surveyed by the federal agency.

In San Diego, administrators selected 20 secondary schools and further identified two classrooms of students at each school to survey, using random statistical methods.

The process identified sufficient numbers of English-speaking students--658--at grades 9-12, as well as by gender and ethnicity, to allow the results to be generalized across the district, said Jack Campana, social concerns teacher who handled the data.

Students whose parents gave permission filled out anonymous questionnaires.

“Many of the results are cause for concern,” Campana said in presenting them to school trustees on Tuesday.

The study asked students whether they had engaged in a variety of behaviors within the 30 days before the survey.

In data on drinking, 44.8% of San Diego students had drunk alcohol within 30 days of the survey, done in May, 1991, compared with 58.6% nationally. About 26% of San Diego teens had had five or more drinks--defined as heavy drinking--compared with 37% nationally.

More than 30% locally had tried alcohol before age 13, and Latino and white students had higher percentages of peers who drink than black students.

About 30.5% of all students locally reported that they had ridden in a car in which the driver had been drinking, and 11.2% themselves had driven in an alcoholic state.

Nearly 18% of the San Diego teens had smoked cigarettes, compared with 36% nationally. Locally, almost 68% had smoked at least once, 22% had tried tobacco before age 13, and 15% smoked regularly. White students had higher rates than other ethnic groups.

Almost 36% of the San Diego students had tried marijuana at least once in their lives, however, while only 31.4% nationally reported experimentation. And 18.1% locally had used marijuana within a month of the survey, while only 13.9% nationally had done so.

Higher numbers of San Diego students also had used cocaine at least once--8.1%--compared to 6.5% nationally. Locally, Latino students indicated the highest cocaine use and black students the lowest, and females in all ethnic groups more than males--9.3% to 6.9%.

Almost 23% locally brought a weapon to school at least once within a month of the survey. Some 20% did so nationally. The highest numbers in San Diego were at ninth grade--26.2%--dropping to 14% by 12th grade. Latino and black students carried weapons at almost double the percentage of whites--34% to 18%.

Some 68% of San Diego teens say they exercise one or more days a week, compared with 56.5% nationally. But participation in San Diego drops from 93% at the ninth grade to 32.4% by 12th grade.

And only 54.5% of San Diego male students believe their present weight is ideal, while 68.8% of males nationally are comfortable. For females, the percentage satisfied is 52.8% locally and 58.5% nationally.

Almost 39% of all San Diego teens are trying to lose weight--22.2% male and 56.3% female. Female students were much more likely to have skipped meals, taken pills or induced vomiting, especially white and Latino females.

While 50% of all San Diego students said they had eaten french fries or potato chips one or more times the day before the survey, only 32.7% had consumed a green salad on the same day.

About 48% of the San Diego teens reported having had sexual intercourse at least once, compared with 54.2% nationally. Almost 7% reported having had a sexually-transmitted disease, versus 4% nationally.

The numbers of those locally having sex at least once rise from 36% at ninth grade to 56% by 12th grade. Some 16% overall reported sex with at least four different people and 10.6% had sex before age 13.

A higher number of black students locally said they had sex at least once--79%--than whites at 45% or Latinos at 57%.

The district reported some small comfort in finding that 96.4% of students locally had received some AIDS education, and 64.1% said they had discussed AIDS with their parents.

And of those students who were sexually active, 45.1% of San Diego male teen-agers used a condom during their last intercourse, compared with 49.4% nationally.