I’m privileged to get to write an e-newsletter for the ParentUP campaign here in Kansas City that works to inform and assist families in helping kids avoid underage drinking. The campaign also encourages responsible use of alcohol among adults.
The statistics for how many younger kids drink are sobering. (Punny?) The risks to their current health and future success are high. Here’s a smattering of what I’ve written in the ParentUP newsletters:
- Every day in the United States, more than 4,750 kids under age 16 have their first full drink of alcohol.
- Underage drinking accounts for 11% of all the alcohol consumed in the United States.
- Youth who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse in their lifetimes than those who begin drinking at age 21 years or later.
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A teenager’s brain is still developing the important pre-frontal cortex functions of decision making, planning, appropriate social behaviors, and complicated cognitive functions in learning, memory, and organization. The affects of alcohol arrest or stifle the development of these important areas.
- Kids who drink in their teen years have a higher tendency towards poor scholastic success, depression, and emotional disorders.
What I’ve never written about, is responsible use among adults.
While writing the latest edition of the ParentUP letter, I was clicking through websites of foundations with data and research on everything alcohol use and abuse. I realized I’ve never done much research into what qualifies as a healthy amount of alcohol drinking for adults. Of course, there are familial, religious, or health reasons to drink NO alcohol at all. If however, one wants to drink occasionally and responsibly, what do doctors and researchers say about how much and how often?
I didn’t know but was interested in to learn.
Rethinking Drinking and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says:
And a drink is defined as: 0.6fl oz or 14 grams of pure alcohol which is usually found in,
12 fl oz of regular beer (5% alcohol)
8-9 fl oz of malt liquor (7% alcohol)
