3-year-old child considered England's youngest alcoholic... ever

[LynneSin]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/15/2011-03-15_3yearold_considered_englands_youngest_alcoholic_ever.html

3-year-old child considered England's youngest alcoholic... ever

A hard-drinking 3-year-old has been diagnosed as Britain's youngest ever alcoholic.

Doctors treated the unnamed child for withdrawal systems after the toddler suffered the shakes and wild mood swings.

Experts suspect the youngster would have to have been given booze repeatedly over at least a six-month period to develop such a dependency.

"To be diagnosed an alcoholic ... they would have had to ingest enough to cause withdrawal symptoms," Nicolay Sorenson of advocacy group Alcohol Concern told The Telegraph.

"Whatever the circumstances, it is a truly horrifying case and raises very serious child protection issues."

The youngster was one of 13 people under the age of 12 who were diagnosed as alcoholics by Britain's National Health Service between 2008 and 2010.

I'm not sure what is more disturbing, that a 3-year-old could become an alcoholic or that the 3-year old was one of 13 kids under the age of 12 in Britian to become an alcoholic.

[snooper2]

1. There's a HUGE difference between 3 and 12 though..

Shit, I would sneak a beer when I was twelve with my friends and go camping and fishing...

A 3 year old? :wtf:

[LynneSin]

2. sneaking a beer is a far cry from being an alcholic though

:scared:

[tigereye]

3. now to me, there is no way that could be much other than

a neglect issue... jeez. Kids that young and certainly the older ones, too, have no capacity to understand what they are doing. :(

[Lil Missy]

4. Someone belongs in jail. n/t

[Moondog]

5. The operative word here is "given".

This kid was being plied with booze to keep him/her quiet or otherwise complacent.

This is not child neglect. It is child abuse.

[Brickbat]

6. This is not uncommon in some economically devastated areas.

I had to read "Poison Stronger Than Love" for a class I took in college, and its description of drunk children still haunts me.

[elleng]

7. Framed badly, imo.

One is BORN alcoholic. The horror here is that this child obtained/was given alcohol at such age. Same/similar horror for other youngsters.

"Raises very serious child protection issues," to say the least, but its a congenital malady so no real surprise that some sick parents would do this.

:-(

[bluesbassman]

8. Good point.

The child likely had a chemical dependency on alcohol, but I refuse to accept that a three year old could be diagnosed as an "alcoholic".

What, was he showing up late for preschool every day? Hiding vodka bottles under his toybox? Telling his friends he could quit anytime he wanted to, but was just enjoying himself too much right now?

Sheesh, how some people get to "experts" is beyond me.

[elleng]

9. 'withdrawal

systems after the toddler suffered the shakes and wild mood swings'

[bluesbassman]

10. And that was the basis for the diagnosis? Heck, every 3 year old I've ever known...

has wild mood swings and alchohol had nothing to do with it.

[elleng]

11. 'the shakes

and wild mood swings.... Doctors treated the unnamed child for withdrawal systems.'

[davsand]

12. Lends a whole new meaning to the term "bottle baby."

I grew up in a very ethnic community, and one aspect of that was a pretty heavy consumption of beer. Literally, I remember seeing kids with beer in little kid cups. Understand, everyone consumed, but there was an unspoken attitude that you were never drunk in public, except maybe at Octoberfest or the odd wedding. Even then, the old timers would cluck about it quietly.

I also grew up with a lot of people who were "functional" alcoholics who never realized it until they developed health issues or had life issues that just never resolved. Lots of divorce and car accidents, too. The local taverns were famous then, and they remain so to this day. An awful lot of local kids pretty much grew up in them.

I feel for that kid, I really do. This is something--an addiction--that will be a battle for a lifetime. Wow.



Laura

[smirkymonkey]

13. He should have hooked up with that smoking 2 year old hooked

on cigarettes - they could have had a great time together! :sarcasm: