Children of Alcoholic Parents
marks in school,
As many as one in five children live with
an alcoholic parent
(Hussong et al., 2007). Such children are
at greater risk for
having emotional problems than are
others because of the
frequent disruption in their lives.
Alcoholism may have a
genetic cause, so children of alcoholics
may be more likely
to become alcoholics. They also can learn
poor coping be-havior. Immediate
problems that can occur with children of
alcoholics are:
• A feeling of guilt that they are the cause
of the parent’s
drinking
• Constant worry that the alcoholic parent
will become sick or
die, leaving the child; at the same time,
fear of violence from
the alcoholic parent and a wish the parent
would leave
• A feeling of shame that prevents the
child from inviting
friends home or asking for help
• Decreased ability to trust adults because
the parent has
been unreliable so many times
• Concern because the alcoholic parent’s
behavior is so er-ratic that no regular
schedule of bedtime and meals exists
• Anger at the alcoholic parent for
drinking and at the non-alcoholic parent
for not doing more to correct things
• Helplessness to change the situation
Such fears may be revealed by failing
withdrawal from friends or social
activities, and delinquent
behavior such as stealing. With
adolescence may come de-pression,
suicidal thoughts, or abuse of drugs or
alcohol.
School nurses are in an excellent position
to identify such
children, monitor their school progress,
and refer them to or-ganizations such as
Al-Anon or Alateen (http://www.al-anon-
alateen.org) for support.
• A counseling program to discuss aspects
such as self-image
and motivation to reduce weight (Haines
& Neumark-Sztainer, 2007).
Total caloric intake cannot be reduced too
drastically be-cause children need calories
to form new body tissue for con-tinued
growth. If carbohydrate intake is
restricted too greatly,
protein is broken down for body energy
and a negative nitro-gen balance is
produced. Caution children not to try
faddish
high-protein diets (as most adults should
not), because such
diets do not supply enough carbohydrates
and may produce a
heavy renal solute load (the breakdown
product of proteins)
for the kidneys. It helps if children aim to
lose 5 lb over a
short time rather than 50 lb over a year.
This short-term goal
coincides better with the task of
developing industry.
Surgical techniques such as stomach
banding are obvi-ously extreme measures
and inappropriate for children.

Obese children might request one,

however, in an attempt to

avoid the not insignificant difficulty of

long-term weight loss.

Overweight school-age children often do

well if a dieters’

club is formed. They are not too young to

participate in formal

weight-control organizations. Having

tangible support from

other group members helps them follow

tedious and monoto-nous nutrition
patterns. Behavior modification can also
be use-ful in teaching children how to eat
in a healthier manner.

As a way of increasing daily activity,

preadolescents do