Serious Teen Drinking Risks

FROM NBC: Alcohol ups the risk for so many negative consequences in young people that pediatricians and parents need to work extra hard to discourage teens from imbibing. That's according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The statement outlines the many risks associated with early alcohol use -- such as accidental injuries, drug abuse, unsafe sex and binge drinking. The group of pediatricians also says teen brains are still developing -- and alcohol can alter the course of normal brain development among children and teens. The statement points to parents, too, to discourage teen alcohol use and set clear rules about alcohol use.

AND.. Young women who regularly drink alcohol are increasing the chance they'll develop a condition that often precedes breast cancer. Researchers from Harvard University studied nine thousand girls age 16 to 23. They looked at their alcohol habits -- then followed up two years later with their health history.

They found those who drank six to seven days per week were five times more likely to develop benign breast disease -- a condition that is made up of non-cancerous lesions and tumors, but increases the risk for cancer. Experts are concerned because they say more women are starting to drink alcohol in high school and college. Participants who drank three to five days per week had three times the risk for benign breast disease when compared to those who never drank.

I think it's sad if there are girls in high school who are drinking 6-7 days a week! I mean sneaking and drinking one or two nights out the week is believable, but 6-7 seems like a parental problem or alcoholism to me. What do you think?
-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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