Do you let your high schoolers enjoy wine with dinner at home?

[Anonymous]

No. I am an MD with a large wine collection and I even got married in Napa. I think that we have tried to rationalize away the health harms of alcohol for a long time - studies touting red wine and cardiac health, alcohol as a part of the Mediterranean diet, alcohol in moderation for pregnant women is fine, etc have long been cited as reasons to keep drinking. But the alcohol industry’s funding of such studies and the well established studies looking at cytotoxicity of alcohol and the well known links between alcohol consumption and cancer should give us pause.

Alcohol is so damn enjoyable and so culturally acceptable that we are willing to look past all the harm that it does to health and societal well being. If you look at it dispassionately, it seems obvious that the bad outweighs the good. Those prohibitionists had a point.

I’ve cut back and drink once a month or less. My last drink was in March. I should quit completely, but I admit it - I enjoy wine and champagne and I don’t want to give it up on social occasions (I’ve successfully been indoctrinated by the wine industry). I love the glasses and the bottles, wine tasting, the whole theater of ordering wine at a restaurant, walking into a wine shop etc. But I am coming around to the fact that alcohol is unequivocally bad for you. I definitely do not offer or encourage my teens to drink.

I also think that we will one day view pregnant moms who have a glass of burgundy with dinner the same way we view pregnant moms who enjoy a Marlboro light after dinner. Smoking used to be acceptable and even advised for pregnant women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Today on Lush Life...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I am an MD with a large wine collection and I even got married in Napa. I think that we have tried to rationalize away the health harms of alcohol for a long time - studies touting red wine and cardiac health, alcohol as a part of the Mediterranean diet, alcohol in moderation for pregnant women is fine, etc have long been cited as reasons to keep drinking. But the alcohol industry’s funding of such studies and the well established studies looking at cytotoxicity of alcohol and the well known links between alcohol consumption and cancer should give us pause.

Alcohol is so damn enjoyable and so culturally acceptable that we are willing to look past all the harm that it does to health and societal well being. If you look at it dispassionately, it seems obvious that the bad outweighs the good. Those prohibitionists had a point.

I’ve cut back and drink once a month or less. My last drink was in March. I should quit completely, but I admit it - I enjoy wine and champagne and I don’t want to give it up on social occasions (I’ve successfully been indoctrinated by the wine industry). I love the glasses and the bottles, wine tasting, the whole theater of ordering wine at a restaurant, walking into a wine shop etc. But I am coming around to the fact that alcohol is unequivocally bad for you. I definitely do not offer or encourage my teens to drink.

I also think that we will one day view pregnant moms who have a glass of burgundy with dinner the same way we view pregnant moms who enjoy a Marlboro light after dinner. Smoking used to be acceptable and even advised for pregnant women.

I was last pregnant nearly 20 years ago and it was very much known that pregnant women should not drink at all and that it was damaging.

[Anonymous]

We let them have a glass of wine at holidays in our home or other special occasions. But not on a regular basis. And I am not comfortable with hard liquor for them. Just half a serving of beer or wine.

[Anonymous]

Not just with a regular weekday dinner bc drinking regularly like that doesn’t seem advised in a teen. A holiday or family party sure.

They generally wouldn’t partake bc they think wine is gross, though. Maybe a cocktail ….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're French, and had our kids taste wine and other alcohols when they pretty young, because in many French families, this is what happens. They didn't like it. So now they're young adults and older teens, we drink extremely rarely (a couple of times a year, maybe), and the children don't usually join us, even though we'd have no problems if they did. I think we all lack the gene that makes humans like alcohol. It does nothing for us. We would definitely NOT be fine with frequent drinking. As PP said, it's not good for your health.

Teens in France binge drink a lot more than American teens. Most European countries are the same.

Not exactly. Teens in France self report more binge drinking in some data sets. But this makes sense because it is legal to drink at age 16 whereas American teens would be self reporting illegal activity. You would expect to see such a discrepancy.

You have to be careful about interpreting survey data.

Maybe but these are anonymous surveys. And in France the legal age to drink is 19. You can only drink alcohol if you are with an adult legal guardian. Hopefully no one is binge drinking with mom. The rest of the European teens report binging a lot more than Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're French, and had our kids taste wine and other alcohols when they pretty young, because in many French families, this is what happens. They didn't like it. So now they're young adults and older teens, we drink extremely rarely (a couple of times a year, maybe), and the children don't usually join us, even though we'd have no problems if they did. I think we all lack the gene that makes humans like alcohol. It does nothing for us. We would definitely NOT be fine with frequent drinking. As PP said, it's not good for your health.

Teens in France binge drink a lot more than American teens. Most European countries are the same.

Not exactly. Teens in France self report more binge drinking in some data sets. But this makes sense because it is legal to drink at age 16 whereas American teens would be self reporting illegal activity. You would expect to see such a discrepancy.

You have to be careful about interpreting survey data.

Maybe but these are anonymous surveys. And in France the legal age to drink is 19. You can only drink alcohol if you are with an adult legal guardian. Hopefully no one is binge drinking with mom. The rest of the European teens report binging a lot more than Americans.

It's 18 and no, you can definitely order a beer while in high school.

[Anonymous]

My kids watched their grandma enjoy her daily wine a bit too much to the point of us thinking she had dementia. They also saw how much she improved after life and health forced her to quit. They have no desire to even try it now.

[Anonymous]

Both my adult kids (and their partners) are health conscious and while they may enjoy wine at special occasions, they are not drinkers.

OTOH, they know how to serve alcohol, make cocktails, throw a great party etc - when they are hosting.

DH and I, both had functioning alcoholic fathers. My kids know to be scared if they start enjoying their booze a bit too much. They believe that addiction is in their genes. DH and I, don't drink because we don't feel good after drinking. Maybe it is our age or our circle of friends - all of us are eating healthier and barely drinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're French, and had our kids taste wine and other alcohols when they pretty young, because in many French families, this is what happens. They didn't like it. So now they're young adults and older teens, we drink extremely rarely (a couple of times a year, maybe), and the children don't usually join us, even though we'd have no problems if they did. I think we all lack the gene that makes humans like alcohol. It does nothing for us. We would definitely NOT be fine with frequent drinking. As PP said, it's not good for your health.

Teens in France binge drink a lot more than American teens. Most European countries are the same.

Not exactly. Teens in France self report more binge drinking in some data sets. But this makes sense because it is legal to drink at age 16 whereas American teens would be self reporting illegal activity. You would expect to see such a discrepancy.

You have to be careful about interpreting survey data.

Maybe but these are anonymous surveys. And in France the legal age to drink is 19. You can only drink alcohol if you are with an adult legal guardian. Hopefully no one is binge drinking with mom. The rest of the European teens report binging a lot more than Americans.

It's 18 and no, you can definitely order a beer while in high school.

It’s 18? Ok but it’s not 16 anymore. Countries raise age limits when there is a problem.

The US had a drunk driving problem which European countries did have I as bad as us. So the US raised it back to 21 years old. France and other countries saw binge drinking in teens so they increased their ages. Some of them, like Germany and France, have exceptions depending on whatever. French teens have problems with binge drinking.

In the US the raised drinking level to age 21 helped delay binge drinking. It also helped keep teens out of bars. When the drinking age was 18 it was easy for a 14 year old to get a fake ID that was believable. Now only older teens usually in college use fake IDs. Teen deaths in drunk driving went way down when the age to drink was raised

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're French, and had our kids taste wine and other alcohols when they pretty young, because in many French families, this is what happens. They didn't like it. So now they're young adults and older teens, we drink extremely rarely (a couple of times a year, maybe), and the children don't usually join us, even though we'd have no problems if they did. I think we all lack the gene that makes humans like alcohol. It does nothing for us. We would definitely NOT be fine with frequent drinking. As PP said, it's not good for your health.

Teens in France binge drink a lot more than American teens. Most European countries are the same.

Not exactly. Teens in France self report more binge drinking in some data sets. But this makes sense because it is legal to drink at age 16 whereas American teens would be self reporting illegal activity. You would expect to see such a discrepancy.

You have to be careful about interpreting survey data.

Maybe but these are anonymous surveys. And in France the legal age to drink is 19. You can only drink alcohol if you are with an adult legal guardian. Hopefully no one is binge drinking with mom. The rest of the European teens report binging a lot more than Americans.

It's 18 and no, you can definitely order a beer while in high school.

It’s 18? Ok but it’s not 16 anymore. Countries raise age limits when there is a problem.

The US had a drunk driving problem which European countries did have I as bad as us. So the US raised it back to 21 years old. France and other countries saw binge drinking in teens so they increased their ages. Some of them, like Germany and France, have exceptions depending on whatever. French teens have problems with binge drinking.

In the US the raised drinking level to age 21 helped delay binge drinking. It also helped keep teens out of bars. When the drinking age was 18 it was easy for a 14 year old to get a fake ID that was believable. Now only older teens usually in college use fake IDs. Teen deaths in drunk driving went way down when the age to drink was raised

That was the main and pretty much only reason it was raised to 21.
Though kids can still drink with parents in bars in some states, but at least the parent is there to keep them under control and not start any trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what the research says, but I always assumed it was a way to make alcohol not a big deal, but my son's friend was allowed alcohol from an early age ranging from a sip to eventually a glass and the kids (big family) all struggle with alcohol if not full blown alcoholism as teens and young adults so apparently it didn't work in that case.

What the research says (it validates your observation):

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6521692/

https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.21-00437

,gov
jsad
Seriously? And you don't realize their agendas?

Public health? What do you think their "agenda" is?

Oh you sweet summer child.

[Anonymous]

OP, if it has served you so well then why are you asking? Get a hobby.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of alcoholic relatives of DCUMs. It explains a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what the research says, but I always assumed it was a way to make alcohol not a big deal, but my son's friend was allowed alcohol from an early age ranging from a sip to eventually a glass and the kids (big family) all struggle with alcohol if not full blown alcoholism as teens and young adults so apparently it didn't work in that case.

What the research says (it validates your observation):

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6521692/

https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.21-00437

,gov
jsad
Seriously? And you don't realize their agendas?

Public health? What do you think their "agenda" is?

Oh you sweet summer child.

Is that supposed to respond to the question?