Rationale

Globally, alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern and it is one

of the most important risk behaviors among young adults, including senior high school

students. Alcohol consumption, as the term is used in clinical and research applications,

refers to the act of ingesting – typically orally – a beverage containing ethanol. Ethanol is

the only type of alcohol that is safe for human consumption. Alcohol consumption can

lead to poor academic performance, injuries, fights, use of other substances, and risky

sexual behaviors among students.

The consumption of alcohol during the teenage and young adulthood years is a

common phenomenon in many societies. An analysis from the Global Burden of Disease

estimates that 1.34 billion people consumed harmful amounts of alcohol (1.03 billion

males and 0.312 billion females) in 2020. The analysis suggests that for young adults

ages 15–39, there are no health benefits to drinking alcohol, only health risks, with 59.1%

of people who consumed unsafe amounts of alcohol in 2020 between ages 15 and 39

years and 76.7% male. The authors note that given the complex relationship between

alcohol and diseases and different background rates of diseases across the world, the risks

of alcohol consumption differ by age and by geographic location. Harmful use of alcohol

was particularly concentrated in young males in Australasia, Western Europe, and

Central Europe. More studies were conducted to gather further information regarding

alcohol consumption, including in the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the

developing countries in Southeast Asia, and it has no current national legal policy

regulating alcohol consumption among young adults. Additionally, it does not have a

robust national surveillance system to monitor risky alcohol consumption among youths.
However, according to Food Nutrition and Research Institute’s Clinical and Health

Survey, more than half of Filipinos aged 20 to 59 engage in the harmful use of alcohol in

the form of binge drinking or drinking excessively in one sitting. According to the same

survey, the youth are also at risk for adverse health effects of alcohol consumption. It is

reported that among Filipino youth aged 10 to 19, 14.9% consume alcohol, and 36.7% of

these are underage drinkers (2015). Young people constitute 28 percent (30 million) of

the Philippine population. Reports and studies on alcohol strongly recommend

implementing aggressive public policies for the reduction of public alcohol consumption,

including increasing taxes to make alcohol less affordable and accessible, especially to

the youth. Other factors shown by researchers to predispose students to alcohol

consumption include; ease of availability and accessibility of alcohol, academic

pressures, family member use of alcohol, and psychological distress. These features of

colleges or universities’ environments elsewhere are synonymous with those in the

Philippine setting. Moreover, the researchers have produced an observation at the Asian

College of Technology – Bulacao Campus where alcohol consumption is prevalent

among the students of the institution, which further strengthened the justification and

basis for conducting this study. Previous studies, proven analyses, and current

observations paved the way for the researchers in conducting this study.

Hence, the present study sought to assess the patterns of alcohol consumption and

its associated factors among senior high school students at the Asian College of

Technology - Bulacao Campus. Specifically, the study sought to determine the responses

of senior high school students regarding the extent of their alcohol consumption. The

findings are likely to inform the development of school-based programs and interventions
aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and promoting healthy lifestyles among students.

The findings are also expected to inform the students about the possible dangers of

alcohol consumption, and possibly contribute significantly to national guidelines, targets,

policies, and strategies that pertain to the management and evaluation of youth health

programs.