Teenage drinkers go online more often.

• Position: Your Life - Brief article

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who do not drink, indicates a study by Jennifer Epstein, assistant professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York.

"While the specific factors linking teenage drinking and computer use are not yet established, it seems likely that adolescents are experimenting with drinking and activities on the Internet. In turn, exposure to online material such as alcohol advertising or alcohol-using peers on social networking sites could reinforce teens' drinking."

She adds that children are being exposed to computers and the Internet at younger ages. "According to a national study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than half of parents of teenagers had tilters installed on the computers their...