Kids today know quite a bit about the risks of drinking as they relate to driving and dangerous situations. But what they don't know about underage drinking may also be news to parents. New research on underage drinking has demonstrated significant risks to brain development, learning, memory and addiction.

Drinking is starting earlier than ever.

In Utah, many kids now begin drinking in elementary school, and binge drinking is a common activity by the 10th grade. ¹ Most Utah parents begin talking to their children about not drinking alcohol two years too late – before age 8 is ideal. There's no harm in starting to set rules early about not drinking.

These facts can help you discuss
underage drinking with your child.

	Which brain do you want for your child? These SPECT images show functional activity levels in the brain of a healthy nondrinker (left), and that of a sober 21-year-old with a four-year history of heavy alcohol use (right). The “holes” indicate areas of reduced brain activity. © Dr. Daniel Amen; www.amenclinic.com

1. Underage drinking can cause brain damage.
   Alcohol affects a teen's developing brain differently than an adult's. During the teen years, the brain undergoes rapid development, or wiring. Underage alcohol use interferes with this brain activity. ²

   The following quotes are taken directly from the American Medical Association:

   “The prefrontal area [responsible for good judgment, planning, decision making and impulse control] undergoes the most change during adolescence. Researchers found that adolescent drinking could cause severe changes in this area… which plays an important role in forming adult personality and behavior… Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible.” (American Medical Association Fact Sheet, 2003)

   “The hippocampus [involved in learning and memory] …suffers from the worst alcohol-related brain damage in teens… Those who had been drinking more and for longer had significantly smaller hippocampi (10 percent) …In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults… Frequent drinkers may never be able to catch up in adulthood, since alcohol inhibits systems crucial for storing new information.” (American Medical Association Fact Sheet, 2003)

   Simply put, underage drinking can cause permanent damage to memory, learning and impulse control, causing young people to develop social problems, do poorly in school and fail to achieve lifelong goals.
   
   

   	Lifetime alcohol dependence by age of drinking onset. 9 Research shows 40 percent of kids who start drinking before the age of 15 will become alcohol-dependant.

2. Underage drinking can “program” the brain for alcoholism ³
   Research shows children who begin drinking before age 15 have a 40 percent chance of becoming alcohol-dependent. In contrast, a person who waits until the legal age of 21 to start drinking only has a 7 percent chance of becoming an alcoholic. ⁴

   Here's why: The brain is hard-wired to reward positive actions with feelings of pleasure so we want to repeat them. We remember pleasure from dopamine, a “feel-good” brain chemical, or neurotransmitter, which associates pleasure to the thing we enjoyed. Alcohol tricks the brain's pleasure-reward system by stimulating the production of dopamine. It thus creates feelings of pleasure from a harmful chemical instead of a real experience. Because the teen brain produces an abundance of dopamine compared to an adult brain, it can rapidly go from liking, to wanting, to needing alcohol-programming it for alcoholism. ⁶ Alcohol can also damage the brain's ability to sense pleasure from normal, healthy things and experiences, leaving a young person feeling “flat” about activities he or she previously enjoyed. ⁷ In addition, the addictive nature of underage alcohol use often leads to other types of addiction. Research shows 67 percent of teens who drink will try illegal drugs. ⁸
   
   

   	Alcohol damage can cause young people to: develop social problems have poor judgment get into trouble struggle in school experience failure in achieving life-long goals. 10

3. Underage drinking can lead to a host of other, well-known problems.
   Underage drinking isn't a harmless rite of passage. Alcohol use among children is strongly correlated with violence, poor academic performance, promiscuity, arrest and many other dangers. In fact, alcohol use by teens is one of the strongest predictors of teen injury, fighting, academic problems, truancy, unprotected sexual activity, unwanted sexual advances, illegal activity and other illicit drug use.
   
   
4. Teens aren't prepared to deal with the risks of alcohol.
   The brain areas that encourage impulsivity and risk-taking develop early in a teen, while areas that improve self-control and inhibit impulsive behavior don't develop until the very late teens or early 20s. ¹¹ Parents also underestimate the extent of teen drinking. In fact, nationally, 31 percent of youth who said that they had been drunk in the past year were reported by their parents to be nondrinkers. ¹² To be alcohol-free, your child needs your awareness and help.
   
   
5. Underage drinking can kill.
   Traffic accidents are the #1 killer of teens, and more than one-third of teen traffic deaths are alcohol-related. However, kids don't have to get behind the wheel to die from underage alcohol use. Alcohol poisoning from underage drinking is more likely to kill young people than all other illicit drugs, combined. ¹³ Unlike adults, most kids haven't developed the internal “cut-off” switch that makes them go to sleep or pass out from too much drinking. They can easily consume dangerous amounts of alcohol without realizing it. The resulting alcohol poisoning can cause difficulty breathing, unconsciousness and death. If a young person ever passes out from too much drinking, 911 should be called for immediate medical attention.