A new report finds that more teen drinkers in four states are choosing liquor over beer, HealthDay News reported July 26.

Researchers found that more than 4 in 10 teens in Arkansas, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming drank, and that bourbon, rum, scotch, vodka and whiskey were more popular with drinkers than beer. Liquor was the most popular alcoholic drink with teens in all four states, followed by beer or malt liquor, then wine. For example, 44.7 percent of Arkansas teens drank liquor, compared to 1.6 percent who drank wine.

Liquor was the most popular drink among girls in all four states, and the favorite of boys in three; only in Nebraska was beer more popular among boys.

James Garbutt, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said, "It is intriguing that hard liquor is the preferred beverage. I wouldn't intuitively have thought that."

The study authors cautioned that findings from the four states may not apply to the rest of the U.S., but noted that the trend has been detected in other studies as well.

Researchers said that liquor may be more popular because it's easier to conceal by mixing with a soft drink, or the taste may be more palatable. Garbutt speculated that young drinkers also may prefer liquor because it get them drunk faster.

The research appears in the July 27, 2007 issue of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.