Evaluation of the use of alcohol in childhood and childhood habits in the first years of life

Abstract

The use of alcohol in childhood can cause developmental disorders, in addition to problems resulting from acute or chronic ingestion and chemical dependency; therefore, there is no safe level for its consumption. The objective was to evaluate the factors associated with the use of alcohol in the mother-child binomial in public medical services. Between 2014 and 2018, structured interviews were carried out through non-probabilistic sampling for convenience with 346 children under 12 years old and their mothers in health units in Ribeirão Preto (SP/Brazil), all of them agreed to participate in the study previously approved by local Research Ethics Committee. 97 mothers reported consuming alcoholic beverages (median age: 30 years; p = 0.8). Drinking was frequently in mothers who had less than 8 years of schooling (p = 0.0046). 66 children have tried alcohol at least once (Ages: 4 months - 12 years, median: 40 months, p = 0.8). The factors associated with alcohol use in childhood were: maternal alcohol consumption (p <0.0001), smoking mothers (p = 0.02), cohabiting with someone with alcohol problem (p = 0.0023). The situations that were not associated with experimenting with alcoholic drinking in childhood were: mother working outside the home (p = 0.58), not attending religious activities (p = 0.31) and couple interactions: married and or cohabiting couples (p = 0.28). Therefore, family support and the maternal model in relation to the use of tobacco or alcohol works as a source of support and protection for the consumption of alcoholic beverages in childhood.