Alcohol consumption increases among adolescents
Alcohol consumption among adolescents Spaniards between 14 and 18 years old has increased in the last two years. Spanish minors start drinking shortly after the age of 13 and do so assiduously between the ages of 14 and 16. 89 percent of adolescents state that they drink alcohol in their homes; on a regular basis, 48 percent and occasionally, 41 percent.
According The White Paper on the relationship between adolescence and alcohol in Spain, of the Alcohol and Society Foundation, up to 53 percent of Spanish adolescents who consume alcohol get drunk five times a year and 7 percent do it almost every week. Some 33 percent get drunk between 5 and 30 times a year.
8 percent admit to do it between 30 and 50 times, which means doing practically every week. 90 percent of cases are concentrated during the weekend or holidays. 47 percent of teens say their parents know they consume alcohol, while only 20 percent say their parents are not aware of their alcohol consumption.
But ... why does my son drink?
Since they are very young, children see advertising messages with "cool" people who enjoy life ... and alcohol. In addition, many parents and other adults drink alcohol at social gatherings, for example, drinking beer or wine during a dinner; Without wanting it, the message is transmitted to the children that alcohol is harmless. During adolescence it is common to experiment with alcohol. Some of the reasons why teens drink alcohol or try drugs are the following:
- Out of curiosity.
- To feel good, reduce stress and relax.
- To not feel different.
- To look older.
Explain to your child how alcohol attacks him
1. Affected brain places: the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum and the brainstem, particularly the center of respiration.
2. Initial alteration: mild euphoria, relaxation and sedation.
3. Acute side effects: intoxication, diminishes the sense of hearing and the sense of responsibility, hangover.
4. Chronic side effects: addiction, cirrhosis of the liver, memory loss, poorly balanced reasoning, Korsakoff syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome.
5. Irreversible effects: permanent damage to learning ability and memory since the neurons that are destroyed in the hippocampus will never be replaced.
8 percent of people who drink alcohol develop some kind of problem and each of those victims will affect to some extent at least six other people. Children and adolescents absorb alcohol more quickly than adults and their livers metabolize it less effectively. The adolescents themselves recognize that they do not drink socially, as adults usually do, but to take the punctuation or get drunk.
How to identify alcohol poisoning
- Red faces.
- Red, watery, vitreous or blood injected eyes.
- That the breath smells like alcohol.
- Pasty pronunciation.
- Difficulty in understanding the questions.
- Stagger or stumble.
- Instability to remain standing and need to lean on something to stay.
- Show a combative or jovial attitude, or seek discussion, or any other inappropriate behavior.
- Wear stained, wrinkled or messy clothing.
- Disorientation in terms of time and space.
- Little ability to follow an address.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
Advice: Alcohol and Society Foundation
