Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

A Night of Conversation: Facing Addiction Over Dinner

Nov 14, 2018 | 8:13 AM

Pull up a chair, Mom and Dad. We’d like to give you some info about how to bring your kids to the table for this year’s Night of Conversation: Facing Addiction Over Dinner on Nov. 15. That’s when you can sit down together to talk about alcohol and drug abuse — and when you’ll discover the remarkable power of the family to help kids confront and deal with these tough subjects.

Why should you do it?

Because your support is essential for your kids to find the inner strength to resist life-damaging experimentation with addictive substances.

When families sit down together around a dinner table magic happens.

According to a Safeway Foundation report sponsored in part by the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at Dr. Oz’s Columbia University, frequent family dining is associated with lower rates of teen smoking, drinking, illegal drug use and prescription drug abuse.

Compared to teens who eat dinner frequently with their families (five or more family dinners per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are:
— Three and a half times likelier to have abused prescription drugs.
— Three and a half times likelier to have used an illegal drug other than marijuana or prescription drugs.
— Three times likelier to have used marijuana.
— More than two and a half times likelier to have used tobacco.
— One and a half times likelier to have used alcohol.

We can hear you saying: “Whew! Let’s have dinner together, and let’s start with the night of Nov. 15.”

But if you’re not saying that, listen up!

Alcohol is the most widely used and abused substance among youngsters.

Among young adults, binge drinking in particular is linked to risky behaviors such as unprotected sex and smoking, injuries, motor vehicle accidents, impaired cognitive functioning, poor academic performance, physical violence and suicide attempts.

Opioid misuse among kids ages 15-19 is a problem: The rate of opioid-related overdose death tripled between 1999 and 2015, from 0.8 to 2.4 per 100,000.

And the Monitoring the Future Study asked more than 46,000 teens about their experience: 13 percent of eighth-graders, 30 percent of 10th-graders and 40 percent of 12th-graders said they used a drug at least once in the past year.

So, how do you pull off the Night of Conversation?

Let your kids know what you are planning; no “gotcha!” moments allowed.

Tell them their voice is an important part of the conversation about avoiding alcohol and drug abuse. You want to hear what they have to say about what goes on around them — they don’t have to name names and can make up hypothetical situations — and what they are concerned with. Then just listen; don’t judge or scold or interrupt. This dinnertime conversation is a FIRST step, and you want to keep the door open for future discussions.

Explore your options: The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids offers detailed descriptions of conversations you can have with kids from 2 to 25. (Google the phrase “Prevention tips for every age.”) And, yes, even at age 2 a conversation may be necessary if you have an addict in the family. Children need to sort out bewildering, scary and emotiona

Download Dr. Oz’s Discussion Guide at https://s.doctoroz.com/FAOD_NOC .pdf. It’s based on the former Surgeon Gen. Dr. Vivek Murthy’s report, Facing Addiction in America.

Also, explore Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s tools for talking about alcohol and download their app that lets you practice the conversation (www.samhsa.gov/underagedrinking/
mobile-application).

If your child is experiencing problems with drugs or alcohol:
— Call the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids Toll-Free Helpline at 855-DRUGFREE.
— To find a substance-abuse treatment center call SAMHSA’s Treatment Referral
Line at 800-662-HELP (4357).
* * *
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
© 2018 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz,
M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

This column is sponsored by your local choice for healthy lifestyle products -Nutter’s Bulk and Natural Foods 365 36th St. W, Prince Albert, SK
Phone: (306) 922-3835