Alcohol and adolescents: advice from the AEP to prevent consumption
Alcohol is very present in the leisure of adolescents. The vision of these alcoholic beverages as innocuous and harmless is widespread among young people, who unconsciously begin drinking before they should. Therefore, it is necessary to warn our children of these risks so that they have an idea of how harmful alcohol can be for them and the damages that can be derived from their consumption.
The harmful alcohol in adolescence
The Association of Spanish Pediatrics, AEP, is very clear about this and warns of the risks involved in initiating alcohol consumption before the allowed age. It is true that these drinks have negative effects on the health of adults and minors, however these damages have a greater effect on adolescents since their body is not yet fully mature.
The most serious of the negative effects pointed out by the ASP may be the brain damage caused by alcohol. These in turn are translated into learning disorders and memory failures that will affect the adolescent's academic life and alterations in the minor's behavior. Problems that will worsen in the future when this person is an adult.
The AEP also states that the same amounts of alcohol in blood affect differently during different stages of life. In this way the adolescent shows the symptoms of drunkenness before an adult and suffer the effects of these substances to a greater extent than those of legal age. This problem can be aggravated because despite suffering more of these symptoms, their lower sensitivity to the sedative effects and reduction of motor skills caused by alcohol, do not perceive the consequences of this consumption in the same way.
To understand that all these risks exist for adolescents is a good start to prevent the consumption of these drinks at this age. In many occasions it is believed that consuming these substances will make it better, but we must warn that far from reality, taking these products will have negative effects in the short and long term.
Decalogue to prevent alcohol consumption
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics AEP also offers a decalogue with several tips for parents to work with to prevent their children from consuming this type of substance:
1. Dialogue with children and take advantage of all those opportunities in which they have a predisposition to speak and not only when the parents want.
2. Betting on leisure activities and common hobbies to find a form of fun that everyone can enjoy.
3. An individual educational project for each child according to the needs presented by each one.
4. Transmit values such as the importance of the family and especially the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
5. Encourage them to carry out sports activities, that they do not remain quiet at home and that their leisure is marked by a healthy lifestyle.
6. Teach moderation (sobriety) in general and in the use of money in particular.
7. Offer an appropriate model with own consumption of alcohol from home. Teach that these substances are not synonymous with fun.
8. Know your friends and your group and offer, whenever possible, the home itself as a meeting place.
9. Maintain reasonable hours but firm for the exits.
10. Positively reinforce the behaviors that deserve it and negatively those that require correction, always trying to explain why it has been done wrong and making the adolescent reason for himself.
Damián Montero
