A paediatrician from the Dutch town of Delft has been trying to convince both parents and children that alcohol should be avoided totally until the age of 23.
Paediatrician Nico van der Lely has noticed in his own practice that the number of cases of binge drinking is skyrocketing. The number of children admitted to hospitals in a 'comatose' state has risen to one or two a day.
Dr Van der Lely decided to create a special outpatients' clinic for children - the first such clinic in the Netherlands - and he visits secondary schools. "Parents underestimate the dangers of alcohol", he says.
"Once a child has had his first drink, the door's wide open for more drinking with their friends. So ban it, no means no".
Dilemmas
But some parents who have heard him speak are sceptical about his message. After all, currently accepted practice is quite different: many well-intentioned parents serve their adolescent sons their first beers at home, or their daughters their first glass of champagne on New Year's Eve.
The logic is that this is how you teach your children to drink alcohol responsibly. Moreover, what parent these days still believes in saying no? Dr Van der Lely, however, is unswayed:
"An adolescent is unable to drink responsibly, precisely because his brain is not fully grown. Striking a deal along the lines of: 'If you don't smoke till you're 18, we'll pay for your driving licence' does not work either. You have to be clear; no means no".
Unconscious
This is exactly the message that Carla de Vries, a concerned mother attending one of Dr Van der Lely's lectures, is being given:
"What should I do? My Lars is 14, and last year acquaintances at the campsite told us his friends had dragged him to his tent in the middle of the night because he was unconscious. Not really binge drinking off course, but I believe it could easily go really wrong."
Jan Buitelaar, professor of youth psychiatry in the city of Nijmegen, agrees that their developing brains does make adolescents extremely susceptible to addictions.
"Smoking a single cigarette, drinking one drink, can induce a state of ecstasy and lay the foundation for abuse and addiction."
Unfinished brain
Neuro-biologist Professor Guus Smit explains how this can cause irreparable damage. During adolescence, the billions of nerve cells that make up the human brain are still growing extensions to link up with each other. Only when this 'wiring' is complete can the brain be considered fully grown. Only then will typically adolescent behaviour like impulsiveness, risk-seeking conduct, a lack of planning or the ability to assess situations properly, slowly disappear. Alcohol inhibits the growth of neural extensions in the brain, and, as Professor Smit puts it:
"Anything missing from a brain will not be created at a later stage".
Binge drinking halts the development of the young brain immediately. Paediatrician Nico van der Lely says the following about the consequences:
"A case of alcohol poisoning will leave children who have yet to start on their main period of growth with a heavily damaged brain, significantly smaller than those of their peers who do not drink. They will never have the future they might have had because their ability to learn and think has been impaired".
Outpatients' clinic for young drinkers and cannabis smokers
As of this month, children with alcohol and drug problems may attend a special outpatients' clinic at Amsterdam's Slotervaart hospital. The clinic is intended for young people between the ages of 12 and 18.
The hospital collaborates with GPs and schools to persuade young people to come to the surgery. There is currently a good deal of attention focussed on the issue of teenagers and alcohol, but this does not yet apply to cannabis addiction among the young.
Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
Radio Netherlands.
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Alcohol is not just dangerous for growing children, it is downright disastrous. Recent research among adolescents shows that the damage is permanent. Binge drinking can even lead to a permanently underdeveloped brain.
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