FOR ANTIGO TIMES

Office of Children’s Mental Health Director Linda Hall today announces the publication of a new fact sheet detailing how to support our children’s well-being through preventing underage drinking. While youth in Wisconsin are drinking less, they are still drinking more than youth in other states. Peer pressure, the ease in which youth can obtain alcohol, as well as advertising in the community may encourage unhealthy drinking behaviors.

Highlights include:

• Using alcohol at an early age can lead to negative health outcomes that in turn can lead to, or worsen, symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Youth tend to binge drink more than adults, which can interfere with normal brain development.
• In Wisconsin, only 36% of kids think it’s risky for them to have 5 or more drinks a couple times a week.
• Having short, frequent, casual conversations with young children and throughout adolescence is one of the best interventions for parents to prevent underage drinking.

See the complete fact sheet.

See previous fact sheets.