Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. A  new  study  has  found  that  sixth  graders  who  already  use alcohol  are  less  receptive  to prevention  programs  aimed  at  all  students. According  to  University  of Minnesota  epidemiologist  Karen  Posh, intervening  at  earlier  ages, specifically  between  third  and  fifth  grade, would  be  more  effective  for  high  risk  students. We  looked  at  sixth  grade  users  and  non  users  of alcohol  to  see  if they  were  significantly  different  groups. And  we  found  that,  in  fact, they  were  significantly  different  on nearly  every  risk  factor  that  we  looked  at, suggesting  that  they  really  are two  separate  groups  of  kids. And  that  our  prevention  programs  that  start  in sixth  grade  may  already  be missing  some  of  the  more  high  risk  kids. In  the  study  involving  more  than  4,000 students  in  61  Chicago  area  schools, Pasha's  team  found  that 17%  had  used  alcohol  within  the  past  year. Research  has  shown  that  the earlier  children  start  using  alcohol, the  more  problems  that  they  will experience  with  alcohol  abuse  and  dependence. So  therefore,  it's  really  important  that  we  prevent  and delay  the  onset  of  alcohol  use  as  much  as  possible. But  I  think  it's  important  to  not only  do  prevention  in  the  schools, but  also  have  prevention  coming from  the  home  and  from  the  community. So  it's  a  multi  tiered  message, so  kids  really  understand  that  it  is  a  message  from everyone  saying  that  we  should  not  be using  alcohol  at  such  young  ages. With  another  public  health  moment,  I'm  John  Finnegan.