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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Dentists often have a captive audience reclining in a dental chair -- someone with a mouth wide open and a bib around the neck.
Parents Empowered and the Utah Dental Association decided to turn those bibs into small anti-alcohol messages, printed so they can be easily read by the patient.
The slogan: "Alcohol does to a teen's brain what sugar does to teeth."
Campaign spokeswoman Sherri Clark said the bibs are to be used by dental staff for routine cleanings. Patients will also get educational pamphlets to take home. Dentists office across the state are participating, she said.
Research shows that messages about health and physical well-being are often better received in health care settings than elsewhere, she said.
The campaign is about kids, but it's aimed at their parents. Studies show the parents' influence is the top reason kids choose not to drink.
The Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission says 70 percent of illegally consumed alcohol comes from parents or other adults. When asked by public health agencies, half of all high school students in Utah report having used alcohol in the previous month.
A federal government study released in June indicated that many of the nation's estimated 10.8 million underage drinkers are turning to their parents or other adults for free alcohol.
The survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, conducted between 2002 and 2006, indicated slightly more than half of teens had engaged in underage drinking.
Asked about the source of alcohol, 40 percent they got it from an adult for free over the past month, the survey said. Of those, about one in four said they got it from an unrelated adult, one in 16 got it from a parent or guardian and one in 12 got it from another adult family member.
Roughly 4 percent reported taking the alcohol from their own home.
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Information from: Deseret News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
