Assignment-2

Addiction of Youth towards Alcohol-Causes and Concern

Introduction:-
Simple economic, age, gender and professional dimensions that define alcohol consumption
patterns in small homogenous western nations are insufficient in a multi-layered society like
India. Despite adoption of western lifestyles, middle class in urban India has yet to entirely do
away with the old mores and values. For few in the big city, the old values are still the core of
their identity, while for others they are suitable pretences, resulting in schizophrenic environment
where youngsters grow up absorbing the worst of both the eastern and the western influences.
Rural India is witnessing a different yet equally seismic shift, where the old joint-family value
system and associated economic enterprises are collapsing and people are moving away from
traditional professions. There is significant migration in search of livelihood due to ever
shrinking size of the agricultural land holdings. The seriousness of alcohol consumption is
represented by Figure1. Apart from the stress of displacement, a break from ones communities
also removes the social safety net that keeps check on alcohol abuse.

In some previously semi-arid and moderately populated regions, improvements in irrigation and
industrialization of agriculture has created excess wealth and removed the need for few
previously agricultural people to work with their own hands. Instant money for these people and
also for the land holders in areas near big cities where prices of real estate have sky rocketed has
resulted in youngsters who do not know how to handle their newfound wealth and are prone to
addiction. Alcohol abuse combined with ready availability of opium derived drugs seeping in
from our western borders has resulted in a whole generation of addicts in Punjab, Jammu,
Haryana and parts of Rajasthan.

Root Cause:-
In the flux of values and economic relations of our multi-layered society four denominators are
can still describe the major pillars of alcohol related problems in India:

1) Lack of information

2) Adulteration of alcohol

3) Inefficient alcohol regulation policies and

4) The paucity of appropriate medical intervention.

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Dangerous effects of alcohol use in teens:-

Just a few of the many dangers of alcohol use in teens include the following:

Alcohol decreases teens' ability to pay attention.

Teens who have experienced alcohol withdrawal tend to have difficulties with memory.
The teenage brain that has been exposed to alcohol is at risk for being smaller in certain
parts.
The younger a person is when they begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop a
problem with alcohol.
Each year, almost 2,000 people under the age of 21 die in car crashes in which underage
drinking is involved. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving
youth.
In 2010, 56% of drivers 15 to 20 years of age(Figure1) who were killed in motor-vehicle
crashes after drinking and driving were not wearing a seat belt.
More than three times the number of eighth-grade girls who drink heavily said they have
attempted suicide compared to girls in that grade who do not drink.
Intoxication is associated with suicide attempts using more lethal methods, and positive
blood alcohol levels are often found in people who complete suicide.
Teens who drink are more likely to engage in sexual activity, have unprotected sex, have
sex with a stranger, or be the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault.
Excess alcohol use can cause or mask other emotional problems, like anxiety or
depression.(Figure3)

Figure 1-Seriousness of Alcohol Abuse

National Call to Prevent and Reduce Under aged Drinking:-

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 In 2007, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage
Drinking48 was issued after being developed in collaboration with the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA). This call to action identified 6 goals:

Figure 2-Percentage of alcohol consumption in youth

Foster changes in American society that facilitate healthy adolescent development and
that help prevent and reduce under aged drinking.
Engage parents and other caregivers, schools, communities, all levels of government, all
social systems that interface with youth, and youth themselves in a coordinated national
effort to prevent and reduce under aged drinking and its consequences.
Promote an understanding of under aged alcohol consumption in the context of human
development and maturation that takes into account individual adolescent characteristics
as well as environmental, ethnic, cultural, and gender differences.
Conduct additional research on adolescent alcohol use and its relationship to
development.
Work to improve public health surveillance on under aged drinking and on population-
based risk factors for this behaviour.
Work to ensure that policies at all levels are consistent with the national goal of
preventing and reducing under aged alcohol consumption.

Role of Paediatricians:-

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 Paediatricians and other health care providers who care for children and adolescents should
help prevent, identify, and treat alcohol and other substance use by youth. The American
Academy of Paediatrics guidelines for the health care of children and adolescents
recommend that paediatricians discuss substance use as part of anticipatory guidance and
preventive care.49 Because of their understanding of family dynamics and long-standing
relationships with families, paediatricians can identify substance-abusing families and
facilitate their care.50 Paediatricians can be involved in the primary prevention of alcohol
misuse through educational and psychological interventions with youth.

Figure 3-Population with HTN due to alcohol abuse

Conclusion:-
Today, alcohol is widely available and aggressively promoted throughout society. And
alcohol use continues to be regarded, by many people, as a normal part of growing up. Yet
underage drinking is dangerous(Figure2) not only for the drinker but also for society, as
evident by the number of alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and
other injuries.

People who begin drinking early in life run the risk of developing serious alcohol problems,
including alcoholism, later in life. They also are at greater risk for a variety of adverse
consequences, including risky sexual activity and poor performance in school.

Identifying adolescents at greatest risk can help stop problems before they develop. And
innovative, comprehensive approaches to prevention, such as Project Northland, are showing
success in reducing experimentation with alcohol as well as the problems that accompany
alcohol use by young people.

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