www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has praised a private member’s bill put forward in parliament today by Dr Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes. Dr Wollaston will put forward proposals to limit the exposure of children and young people to alcohol advertising as a Ten Minute Rule Motion. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/31/11)

Exposure to alcohol in the womb doesn’t affect all fetuses equally. Why does one woman who drinks alcohol during pregnancy give birth to a child with physical, behavioral or learning problems — known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — while another woman who also drinks has a child without these problems? (Source: Google Alcohol News, 03/24/11) machineslikeus.com, 03/24/11 Medical News Today, 03/24/11

Next week, Sarah Wollaston MP will put forward a private member’s bill urging the government to adopt a new approach to protect UK children from alcohol advertising.
In an editorial published on bmj.com today, Professor Gerard Hastings and Dr Nick Sheron set out why we urgently need to tackle the excessive drinking of our young people and their massive exposure to alcohol advertising.
The bill will call on the government to adapt French legislation that allows alcohol advertising in media aimed at adults but not children, and ensures that promotional messages are factual and verifiable. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/24/11)

Adolescent Offspring Of Women Who Drank Alcohol During First Trimester Of Their Pregnancy Three Times As Likely To Develop Conduct Disorder.
Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/22/11)

An intriguing new study by European researchers has found that teen girls aged around 16 years are hitting the bottle more frequently than their male counterparts.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that 80 percent of all 15- to 16-year-olds drink regularly, usually downing at least five units at once, the Daily Mail reports.
Over the last decade, binge drinking habits have greatly increased among adolescent girls, and though they consume less than boys, they get drunk more often than boys do. …
“We also see that this drinking is strongly related to problems such as fights, accidents, and unwanted sexual relations.” (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/14/11) themedguru.com, 03/10/11 Comment: The reason is the marketing of alcopops and that governments reacted too late.

Findings from the 2004 Global School-Based Student Health Survey.
This study examines the associations between alcohol marketing strategies, alcohol education including knowledge about dangers of alcohol and refusal of alcohol, and drinking prevalence, problem drinking, and drunkenness. …
These findings underscore the importance of restricting alcohol marketing practices as an important policy strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/15/11)

Researchers in the U.K have found that teens from more affluent families are more likely to drink than teens in poverty, although having a mother with a higher level of education is a protective factor for teens at any income level, Reuters reported March 14.
The longitudinal study, led by Roberto Melotti of the University of Bristol, surveyed the mothers of 5,837 children when they were pregnant, and followed up with surveys of the children at age thirteen about their use of alcohol and tobacco. (Source: Join Together, 03/15/11)

Children can make a real difference in their communities. A new manual on rights-based research from Concerned for Working Children (CWC) in Bangalore, India shows how children can be empowered to influence their community and also local alcohol policies. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/14/11) add-recources.org, 03/14/11

The government is waging war on the alarming increase in the abuse of alcohol and drugs, and has warned of stricter legislation – including raising the legal age for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21.
In a hard-hitting statement, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said yesterday that the devastating effects of alcohol abuse had spurred the government to „prioritise this as a matter of urgency“.
„Alcohol and substance abuse is destroying families and the fabric of society. The shocking reality of the situation has strengthened our resolve to tackle the problem head-on,“ Dlamini told The Times. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/12/11) timeslive.co.za, 03/11/11 Comment: Good luck, my beloved South Africa. You have the political power to succeed. But do it without the alcohol industry! Take the WHO Global Alcohol Strategy.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) says that 30 percent of U.S. eighth graders drink alcohol, and 20 percent binge drink, according to a March 4 story in HealthDay. In that light, it’s particularly chilling to learn (also from HealthDay) that federal statistics show that underage drinkers are responsible for about 546 visits to emergency rooms each day.
What’s a parent to do?
Talking with teens about alcohol and drinking can be difficult for parents — but emergency room doctors and MADD just made it a little easier.
The American College of Emergency Physicians(ACEP) teamed up with MADD to create and release a new, free handbook as part of MADD’s „Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence“ campaign. (Source: Join Together, 03/10/11)