Page 29 - Healthy LEAP into Fitness- Coach's Manual

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

(& TOBACCO TOO)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- There are long-term and short- term effects from drinking alcohol and using tobacco products
- Media messages about alcohol and tobacco can be misleading
- People may pressure us to try alcohol and tobacco
- Alcoholic beverages dehydrate us and have unnecessary calories

NOTE: This is an OPTIONAL LESSON.
WHAT IS ALCOHOL?
It is found in beer, wine, and hard liquor, such as, vodka, whiskey, and tequila. In the U.S., you have to be over
the age of 21 in order to drink alcohol. People who start drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are more
likely to abuse (or drink too much) alcohol when they are older, or become dependent on (or addicted) to
alcohol. This can make them “binge drink,” which means they consume several alcoholic drinks within a
couple of hours. Excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for nearly 90,000 deaths in the United States
each year. Binge drinking is responsible for more than half of these deaths. While consuming alcohol may
first make you feel happier or more social, alcohol can have both short and long term negative effects on
your body.

Short-term Effects of Alcohol:
- Impaired speech
- Drowsiness
- Vomiting
- Digestive problems, such as diarrhea and upset stomach
- Impaired judgment, such as making poor decisions and risky behavior
- Impaired coordination, reaction time and perception
- Impaired vision and hearing
- Impaired memory
- Over consumption that can result in a medical emergency, or death

Long-term Effects of Alcohol:
- Disruption of normal brain development
- Liver disease
- Stomach and digestive damage
- Heart damage and high blood pressure
- Cancer

WHAT IS TOBACCO?
It is found in cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars and hookahs. Cigarettes contain more than
7,000 chemicals and chemical compounds and a majority are toxic! They also contain nicotine which is high-
ly addictive. When nicotine enters the body, a person may have more energy or feel good, but those feel-
ings don’t last long. Once the nicotine wears off, a person may feel moody, grumpy, or ill. This is withdrawal.
When they feel bad, they feel like they want more nicotine to feel better again. This is addiction.

Over time, the body can build up a tolerance to nicotine and then it takes more and more nicotine to pre-
vent withdrawal. This means a person will need to put more in their body by smoking more cigarettes. The
younger a person is when they start using tobacco, the more addicted to the nicotine they will become.
Even though electronic cigarettes are smokeless, they still contain addictive nicotine. They also contain
29