Age at First Use of Alcohol and Risk of Heavy Alcohol Use: A Population-Based Study

Table 1

Prevalence of heavy alcohol use in the last 30 days by age at first use of alcohol.

Age at first use of alcohol	Male			Female
	Heavy alcohol use over the last 30 days			Heavy alcohol use over the last 30 days
	No	Yes	% Yes	No	Yes	% Yes
Age group ≥ 18
<12	275	510	65%	218	196	47%
12–14	949	1866	66%	1402	1315	48%
15–17	2543	3431	57%	3725	2363	39%
18–24	2427	1667	41%	4084	1179	22%
≥25	98	37	27%	271	45	14%
Age group 18–29
<12	126	314	71%	121	137	53%
12–14	459	1229	73%	771	983	56%
15–17	1281	2350	65%	1941	1794	48%
18–24	1357	1099	45%	2066	788	28%
≥25	13	3	19%	8	1	11%
Age group 30–49
<12	103	159	61%	72	53	42%
12–14	360	527	59%	518	303	37%
15–17	856	859	50%	1341	479	26%
18–24	641	439	41%	1232	300	20%
≥25	60	24	29%	155	27	15%