Alcohol Reduces Birth Rates

Alcohol Use Hinders In-Vitro Fertilization, Study Finds

Research summary

The odds of achieving a live birth through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) fell by 26 percent if either sex partner consumed four or more alcoholic drinks weekly, according to a new study.

Time magazine reported Oct. 27, 2009 that a study of more than 2,500 couples attempting IVF found that success rates fell by 16 percent if women drank and 14 percent if men drank. Wine seemed to affect IVF success the most among women, while beer drinking had the biggest negative impact among men.

Study lead author Brooke Rossi, M.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said the research showed that even moderate drinking could impair IVF.

"There are many factors in an IVF cycle that contribute to success or failure. Most of these, patients have no control over, like age. But one thing you can control is alcohol intake," said Rossi. "You can decrease or stop alcohol consumption, knowing that you are going to have to do it anyway if you do get pregnant and it may increase the chances of success in IVF cycle."

The findings were presented at a recent meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

From Join Together Online.

• See also;
• A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved
• Alcohol & Medication Interactions
• Alcohol and Pregnancy

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy by Mayo Clinic

Clear Messages Reduce Teen Drug Use

Students With Parents Who Set and Enforce Clear Rules are Less Likely to Report Illicit Drug Use

Youths whose parents set clear rules for them are less likely to report using illicit drugs, according to data from the 2008-09 PRIDE Survey. Middle and high school students* whose parents set clear rules for them “a lot” or “often” were less likely to report using illicit drugs in the past year (12% and 21%, respectively) than students whose parents never set clear rules (49%). Similar results were found for having parents who punish them for breaking these rules (data not shown). Previous studies have found that youths living in households where parents kept track of their whereabouts and set curfews were less likely to report heavy drinking.

 

 

SOURCE: Adapted by CESAR from PRIDE, Questionnaire Report for Grades 6 to 12, 2008-09 National Summary – Grades 6 thru 12, 2009. Available online at http://www.pridesurveys.com/customercenter/us08ns.pdf.

Drugs and Kids: How Parents Can Keep Them Apart by Gary L. Somdahl

Workers Drunk on Job

15% of U.S. Workers Report Workplace Alcohol   Use or Impairment in Past Year.

An estimated 19.2 million U.S. workers (15.3%) reported using or being impaired by alcohol at work at least once in the past year, according to recently released data from the National Survey of Workplace Health and Safety.

The most common alcohol-related workplace behaviors were;

• being hungover at work (9.2%) and
• using alcohol during the workday (7.1%), primarily during lunch breaks.

Despite the relative magnitude of the problem, most workplace alcohol use or impairment occurred infrequently—

• 70% of workers reported using or being impaired by alcohol on a less than monthly basis,
• 19% reported it on a monthly basis, and
• 11% reported doing so weekly.

According to the authors, “the prevalence of alcohol use and impairment in the workplace was sufficiently high to suggest that employers need specific policies directed at alcohol use and impairment at work and employees need to be aware of these policies”

Adapted by CESAR from Frone M.R. “Prevalence and Distribution of Alcohol Use and Impairment in the Workplace: A U.S. National Survey,” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 67(1):147-156, 2006.

Alcohol Cable TV Advertising and Teens

Alcohol advertising reaching too many teens on cable TV, researchers say

A new study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, in collaboration with UCLA, has found a striking correlation between teenage viewership and the frequency of alcohol advertising on cable television. The findings show that ads for beer, spirits and "alcopop" aired much more frequently when more teens were watching.

While previous studies have shown that the average adolescent is exposed to well over 200 alcohol ads on television each year, this is the first to demonstrate an association between ad placement and teen cable TV viewership. Cable TV attracts about 95 percent of all nationally televised alcohol ads.

The study will be published in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health and is currently available online by subscription.

"Alcohol advertisers have pledged to avoid audiences made up of more than 30 percent underage viewers — such as children’s programming," said David H. Jernigan, director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "However, many other shows have adolescent appeal. This research suggests that ads are aimed at groups that include a disproportionate number of teens and that the alcohol industry’s voluntary self-monitoring is not working to reduce adolescent exposure to ads."

Using advertising industry data from Nielsen Media Research, researchers examined all 600,000 national cable alcohol ads shown from 2001 through 2006 to audiences with less than 30 percent of viewers between the ages of 12 and 20. Among the findings:

• Audiences with a higher percentage of youth between the ages of 12 and 20 were exposed to a higher frequency of alcohol ads, even after accounting for other factors that might explain ad placement decisions.
• Each 1-percentage-point increase in adolescent viewership was associated with a 7-percent increase in beer ads, a 15-percent increase in spirits ads and a 22-percent increase in ads for low-alcohol refreshers/alcopops — flavored alcoholic beverages that taste similar to juice or soda.
• In contrast, wine ads decreased by 8 percent with each 1-percentage-point increase in adolescent viewership; this finding suggests that alcohol advertisers can, in fact, successfully avoid adolescent audiences.

"This study did not examine whether alcohol advertisers are intentionally overexposing adolescents," said lead study author Dr. Paul J. Chung, assistant professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and a senior natural scientist at the RAND Corp. "The alcohol industry has consistently denied actively targeting teens, and our study isn’t designed to test that claim. However, the ultimate effect of their advertising strategies, intentional or not, appears to be greater exposure than might be expected if adults were the sole targets of ads."

For years, alcohol has been the substance of abuse most commonly used by teens in the United States, and the public health consequences of underage drinking are considerable. Numerous studies and national statistics report that adolescents are involved in a significant proportion of the injuries, violence and crime that stem from binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse. Moreover, studies have shown that starting to drink as an adolescent has been linked with much greater risks of lifelong problem drinking.

Multiple studies suggest that alcohol ads can have substantial influence on underage drinking attitudes and behaviors.

"It’s difficult to document experimentally," said Chung, who also directs the UCLA–RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion. "But there’s not too much doubt that advertising and marketing affect the behavior of both children and adults. Common sense tells us that if it didn’t work, companies probably wouldn’t be spending so much money on it. So, it’s a lot harder for parents, teachers and clinicians to successfully encourage kids to delay drinking when so many things they’re seeing — on television, on billboards, on movie screens, on the Internet — are telling them otherwise."

• See also;
• Adolescent Children of Alcoholics
• Adults give booze to kids
• Alcoholic Family Roles
• Current Social Problems
• Tips for Teens: The Truth About Alcohol

Alcohol Information for Teens: Health Tips About Alcohol and Alcoholism (Teen Health Series) by

Alcohol Testing Reduces Drink Driving by Truckies

Mandatory Alcohol Testing For Truck and Bus Drivers Reduces Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Crashes

Mandatory alcohol testing programs for truck and bus drivers have contributed to a significant reduction in alcohol involvement in fatal crashes, according to a new study by researchers at the US Mailman School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Based on a study sample of nearly 70,000 heavy truck and bus drivers and over 83,000 car drivers, the estimated net effect attributed to the mandatory alcohol testing programs for drivers of heavy trucks and buses was a 23% reduced risk of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes.

This is the first study to comprehensively evaluate the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991, which made alcohol testing mandatory for transportation employees with safety sensitive functions. Findings from the study are published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

In the U.S., there are approximately 4,000 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks and buses each year, and nearly 80% of these fatal crashes are collisions between a motor carrier and a passenger car. About 3% of the motor carrier drivers and 27% of car drivers in these fatal crashes are under the influence of alcohol.

“The mandatory alcohol testing programs for transportation employees with safety-sensitive functions are a major policy intervention,” says Guohua Li, senior author of the report. “However, this policy remains a controversial one, because of legal and ethical concerns and little empirical data about its safety benefit. Our study provides compelling evidence that implementation of the mandatory alcohol testing programs has significantly reduced alcohol involvement in fatal motor carrier crashes.”

The authors also report that the estimated safety benefit of the mandatory alcohol testing programs is consistent across age groups and between sexes. Moreover, implementation of these programs has reduced alcohol involvement by motor carrier drivers in daytime and night time fatal crashes to a similar degree.

Free cross-border trade by motor carriers is a major component of the North America Free Trade Agreement but has been hindered by issues around safety. One of the differences in regulations is mandatory drug and alcohol testing, which is required of drivers in the U.S. but not in Canada and Mexico. According to Mailman School of Public Health’s Joanne Brady, “results from this new study suggest that implementation of the mandatory alcohol testing programs in the U.S. has substantially reduced alcohol-impaired driving by motor carrier drivers.”

More at the; Mailman School of Public Health

• See also;
• $4 Million Killer Kids
• Brief-TSF can assist people cease alcohol consumption.
• AA and Treatment Work Better Together
• Ten percent of adults abuse drugs
• Twelve Step Facilitation

Drug And Alcohol Abuse: The Authoritative Guide For Parents, Teachers, And Counsellors by H. Thomas Milhorn

When Alcohol Abuses Our Marriage (Recovering Hope in Your Marriage) by Dave Jackson