Girls drink more than their mothers think

A new study shows that mothers are not aware of how much alcohol their daughters are consuming.

Published December 19, 2005 2:33PM (EST)

A national organization of alcohol producers has funded a study about girls and drinking that suggests that mothers "significantly underestimate how much alcohol their teen-age daughters drink." In a study of 322 mother-daughter pairs, researchers found that while 30 percent of 16-to-18-year-old girls drink, only 9 percent of their mothers had any idea.

The organization has launched a Web site, www.girlsanddrinking.org, and a new public awareness campaign called "Girl Talk: Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking." The campaign aims to offer mothers and daughters information about alcohol consumption among young women, and to encourage them to talk openly with each other about the issue.


By Rebecca Traister

Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. She is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women" (Free Press). Follow @rtraister on Twitter.

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