This Holiday Season, Teach Your Kids the Science of How Drinking Alcohol Can
Hurt Them
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- As adolescents get ready to attend
holiday parties, it's time for parents to have "The Talk" with them about why
they shouldn't drink alcohol. Teens are constantly exercising their
independence and individuality, and peer pressure is fierce. If their friends
are drinking alcohol, chances are your teens will be too.
Even when parents are present at parties, there are no guarantees.
According to a study last year by The National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University, one-third of the teens surveyed had
attended house parties where parents were present and teens were drinking.
Fourteen-year olds were three times more likely than 13-year olds to attend
such parties.
So giving your young teen "The Talk" is more important than ever.
The Science Inside Alcohol Project, an alcohol education effort from the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, suggests that parents try
a new approach to curb teen drinking this holiday season. Provide kids with
the scientific evidence behind why drinking alcohol can hurt them.
Adolescents believe they are invincible, which is perfectly normal
developmentally. So remember to link what you are saying as closely as
possible to their personal experiences. Here are five questions parents can
ask and answer for their kids to explain alcohol's dangers.
1) Are kids who begin drinking before the age of 21 more likely to
become alcoholics?
Yes. Almost half of all kids who begin drinking at age 14 or younger
become alcohol dependent at some point in their lives. Less than ten percent
of people who begin drinking over the age of 21 become alcoholics.
2) What are three important body organs that alcohol can harm?
Your liver: Alcohol can harm the liver's ability to remove poisons, germs
and bacteria from blood as well as produce immune agents to control infection.
If you drink alcohol it weakens your immune system and you are more likely to
get sick over the holidays.
Your brain: Kids' brains are not fully developed, particularly the part
that stores memory. So when you have 2-3 drinks, you are less likely to
remember things that happen to you than a grown-up.
Your heart: Alcohol reduces blood flow to heart muscles causing weakness
and deterioration. Of course, this is a long-term process. But if you start
drinking now, as you get older it can cause problems.
3) Can drinking alcohol hurt your sports performance?
Absolutely. A recent ESPN report featuring Dr. Gary Wadler, a professor at
the New York University School of Medicine, stated that drinking alcohol after
a practice or a game can impair your ability to play sports for up to 14
hours. Some of the effects are slowed reaction time, problems with balance and
steadiness, dehydration, and a decline in fine and complex motor skills.
4) Can drinking alcohol make you gain weight?
Yes. Drinking alcohol regularly can make you fatter particularly in your
stomach. Alcohol is classified as a food not a drink because it contains
calories. The average alcoholic drink has about the same amount of calories as
a large baked potato but no nutritional value, so you don't get any vitamins
from it.
5) Can drinking coffee or other stimulant drinks help sober you up
enough to drive?
No. Caffeine is a stimulant and it can wake you up, but it does not stop
alcohol's effect on making smart decisions or controlling a car.
Don't be fooled by people who are "wide-awake drunks."
"Most adolescents don't really understand how alcohol affects their
bodies," says Shirley Malcom, head of the Education and Human Resources
directorate at AAAS. "Teaching them the science behind the damage drinking
alcohol causes will hopefully make them less likely to use and abuse it."
The Science Inside Alcohol Project, funded by the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), is developing an interactive, Web-based
science and health curriculum for middle school students and their families on
how alcohol affects the body. The project, which is part of the highly
regarded "The Science Inside" series from AAAS, helps provide children, teens
and adults with a science-based understanding of critical developmental and
health issues.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the
world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal,
Science (http://www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and has
262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million
individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed
general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1
million. The non-profit AAAS (http://www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills
its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in
science policy, international programs, science education and more. For the
latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, http://www.eurekalert.org, the
premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.
SOURCE American Association for the Advancement of Science
Aimee Stern of Stern Communications, +1-202-744-5004, aimee@sterncommdc.com,
for American Association for the Advancement of Science; or Earl Lane of AAAS,
+1-202-326-6431, elane@aaas.org
