www.alkoholpolitik.ch

‘Side Stepping Alcohol Misuse’, an alcohol awareness project run by London Active Communities and Premier Rugby, is due to kick off across the country this month after receiving £100,000 funding from the charity, Drinkaware. The ground-breaking new youth inclusion project will see specially trained community staff from Premiership Rugby Clubs and local youth workers deliver sports-based alcohol education to young people aged 13 to 19. The programme will target hard to reach and disadvantaged communities in 12 areas, including Newcastle, Leeds and London. (Source: Medical News Today, 3/5/10)

Children who have an extreme sweet tooth also may be at elevated risk of becoming alcoholics, according to researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. LiveScience reported Feb. 10 that researcher Julie Mennella and colleagues studied sweetness preference among 300 children ages 5-12. They found that the children who had a family history of alcoholism and had symptoms of depression were also the most likely to express a preference for intense sweetness. (Source: Join Together, 2/19/10)

While the big game itself is old news, the commercials are not: the impact of Super Bowl advertising is in full swing. And according to the more than 30,000 middle and high school students nationwide, who participated in the DrugFree Action Alliance Super Bowl Survey; while alcohol ads were widely remembered, they did not place in the top three favorites among youth, as in past surveys. (Source: Join Together, 2/12/10)

Prenatal alcohol exposure is widely known to impair brain development in exposed offspring. Rodent studies have shown that developmental deficits in newborns related to altered levels of a brain chemical called serotonin (5-HT), leading to subsequent alterations in patterns of neonatal acute pain responses and/or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress reactivity. New findings show a “blunted response” to an acutely painful event – a heel lance – in alcohol-exposed human newborns, indicating that prenatal alcohol exposure may alter the brain’s developing pain regulatory system. (Source: Medical News Today, 1/28/10)

Parents who try to teach responsible drinking by letting their teenagers have alcohol at home may be well intentioned, but they may also be wrong, according to a new study in the latest issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In a study of 428 Dutch families, researchers found that the more teenagers were allowed to drink at home, the more they drank outside of home as well. What’s more, teens who drank under their parents’ watch or on their own had an elevated risk of developing alcohol-related problems. (Source: Medical News Today,  1/28/10)  Comment:  A very important study.

More than one in four girls ages 12-17 was involved in fighting within the past year, according to new survey data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
HealthDay News reported Jan. 15 that a SAMHSA survey of more than 33,000 adolescents found that 19 percent of the girls surveyed reported involvement in a serious fight at school or work, 14 percent took part in group fights, and about 6 percent said they attacked someone else intending to cause serious injury.
Girls who avoided alcohol or other drug use, got good grades and came from higher-income families were at the least risk of involvement in violence, researchers found. (Source: Join Together, 1/21/10)

Although the content of alcohol advertisements in the UK is restricted, an analysis of previously unseen industry documents published on bmj.com today, finds that advertisers are still managing to appeal to young people and promote drinking. Professor Gerard Hastings and colleagues show that companies are “pushing the boundaries” of the advertising code of practice and warn that the UK system of self regulatory controls for alcohol advertising is failing. (Source: Medical News Today, 1/21/10)

“Ministers are facing fierce opposition from medical groups, teaching unions and children’s charities over plans to allow products to be used in television programmes for marketing purposes for the first time. Critics claim the move, which broadcasters say will give them up to £140m a year in extra revenue, will fuel childhood obesity, exacerbate the problems caused by alcohol and gambling, and distort storylines by rewarding programme makers for deliberately giving certain items high visibility. The British Medical Association has written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) strongly opposing the plan….(Source: Harvard World Health News, 1/7/10) The Guardian, London, Online, 1/3/10 Comment: They just try before the EU brings its contrary recommendations. Switzerland has decided last year this way, why Britain should not?

Alcohol consumption among adolescents is a serious public health concern. Research has shown that prevention programs targeting parents can help prevent underage drinking. The problem is that parental participation in these kinds of interventions is generally low. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine non-participation in a parental support program aiming to prevent underage alcohol drinking. The Health Belief Model has been used as a tool for the analysis. (Source: BMC Public Health, 12/21/09)

The Royal College of Nursing today (17th December) welcomed the launch of new guidance for parents, children and young people on alcohol consumption, published by the Chief Medical Officer. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN, said: “Both in A&E departments and in classrooms nurses see the devastating effects alcohol is having on young people everyday – it is damaging not just their health but also their education, development and general wellbeing. (Source: Medical News Today, 12/17/09) // guardian.co.uk, 12/17/09