Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
Know The Facts - Teacher Answer Key
1. Myth or Fact:
3. Myth or Fact:
Drinking beer or wine will not make you as
drunk as drinking spirits (vodka, rum etc.)
Drinkingcoffee,workingupasweat,or
havingacoldshowerwillNOTsoberyouup.
Myth
Fact
• A
lcoholcomesindifferentforms–beer,
wine and spirits but a standard drink
containsthesameamountofalcohol
(13.6 grams)
• S
oa12oz(355ml)beer=5oz(150ml)
glassofwine=1.5oz(44ml)shotwillall
havethesameamountofalcoholinit.
• T
hedifferencecomesintheamount
peopledrinkandsometimesthe
percentage (i.e. some beers come in
differentalcoholpercentages)
2. Myth or Fact:
Canadiansspendabout$12.4billiondollarsa
yearonalcohol.
Fact (kind of)
• F
act–fromtheCAMHinformationform
onalcohol.
• B
ut-in2008–thisnumberincreased
andCanadiansspent18billionon
alcohol(CBC - http://www.cbc.ca/canada/
story/2008/10/10/f-alcohol-numbers.html)
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• Right-onlytimewillmakeyousober.
• Y
ourlivereliminatesalcoholatacertain
rateandnothingwillchangethatrate.
Yourliverneeds,onaverage,about
1.5hourstoeliminateonestandarddrink
fromyourbody,butthatdependson
manyfactorsincludingbodysize,
gender etc.
4. Myth or Fact:
Ifafemaleandamalebothhaveanaverage
bodytypeandweighthesame,anddrinkthe
sameamountofalcohol,itwillhavethesame
effectoneachofthem.
Myth
• M
aleshavemorewaterintheirbodies
thanfemales.Thismeansthealcohol
gets more diluted in males, and so a
malewillnoticelesseffectthanafemale
ofthesamebodyweightandbodytype
whodrankthesameamountofalcohol.
Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
• M
alesalsohavemoreofthething
(enzyme)thatbreaksalcoholdownin
thebodyinordertoprocessthealcohol,
thereforemalescanprocess/digestthe
alcoholatafasterrate.
5. Myth or Fact:
Alcoholhasnoeffectonapregnantmother’s
unborn baby
Myth
• W
henawomandrinksalcoholduring
pregnancy,thealcoholpassesdirectly
intothebloodstreamofthebaby.
• Itispoisonoustothebaby’s
growing cells.
• S
omeofthepossibleeffectsofalcohol
onthedevelopingbabymaybeheart
problems,otherorganproblemsor
fetalalcoholspectrumdisorderalso
behaviourproblems,growthdeficiencies,
developmental disabilities etc.
• T
heriskofbearingachildwiththesebirth
defectsincreaseswiththeamountof
alcoholconsumed.
• T
hefirsttrimesterisatimeofgreat
importanceforthebaby,howeverthereis
noknowntimeduringpregnancywhenit
isknowntobesafetodrinkalcohol
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6. Myth or Fact:
Alcoholcanbegoodforyou
Myth
• Y
oumayhaveheardthatalcoholis
goodfortheheart.Whatyoumaynot
haveheardisthatthehealthbenefitsof
alcoholapplymainlytopeopleoverthe
ageof45years,andthatinmostcases,
adrinkeveryotherdayisenough.For
youngpeople,therearenoknownhealth
benefitsfromdrinkingalcohol.
7. Myth or Fact:
Alcoholgivesyouenergy
Myth
• Alcoholisa“depressant”drug.
• T
hatmeansitslowsdownthepartsof
yourbrainthataffectyourthinkingand
behaviour,aswellasyourbreathingand
heartrate.
• S
omeyouth“feel”likealcoholgivesthem
energybecauseitisoftencombinedwith
sugar(fruitjuice)andcaffeine(i.e.red
bull or coke)
Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
8. Myth or Fact
10. Myth or Fact
Beer before liquor, never been sicker - liquor
beforebeer,you’reintheclear.
Ahangoveristheonlythingalcoholcando
to you
Myth
Myth
• T
hisisanoldurbanlegendusedto
explainwhypeoplegetsickwhenthey
drink-butit’sjustnottrue.
• A
hangoverisbad–itincludesheadache,
nausea,diarrhea,shakinessandvomiting
–butitsnottheonlything
• Y
ourbloodalcoholcontent(alsoknown
asBAC,thepercentageofalcoholinyour
blood)iswhatdetermineshowdrunkyou
are.Itdoesn’tmatterwhattypeofalcohol
youchosetoconsume-adrinkisadrink,
andtoomuchofanycombinationcan
make you sick.
• A
lcoholcanhaveaneffectonthe
following:
9. Myth or Fact
Alcoholisthemostuseddrugamongstyouth
intheRegionofPeel
Fact
o yourjudgement,attitudeand
yourbehaviourwhichcanleadto
embarrassment, unwanted risky
behaviour,violence,injuryetc.
o crime,violenceortrafficinjuriesordeaths
o alcoholpoisoning,whichcankillyou
o effectonyourhealth:highbloodpressure
and strokes, liver disease, cancers,
brainandnervedamage,stomach
diseases etc.
• A
lcoholismostused“illegal”drugby
youthintheRegionofPeel(becauseitis
illegalforpeopleundertheageof19to
bedrinkingalcohol).
11. Myth or Fact
• A
lcoholisthedrugofchoiceforyouth
(as well as adults)
Myth … sometimes
• J ustover2/3’s(68%)ofstudentsfrom
grade7tograde12reportedtheyhad
evertriedanalcoholdrink
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Somepeoplearefriendlierwhenthey’redrunk
• A
lcoholcanaffectyourjudgement,
attitudeandyourbehaviourthereforeit
canbringoutdifferentsidesofhowyou
mightnormallyact.
Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
• Itcancausemoodswingsandmake
people less patient and more aggressive
oritcanbringoutamoretalkativeorquiet
person,itdependsonmanyfactors
12. ***NOTE TO TEACHER:
Thismythorfactshowsconflictingevidence
intheresearch.Youcanchoosetouseitor
not.Ifyouchoosetouseit,itcouldbeusedto
demonstratethefollowingkeymessages:
• E
nsureyouarefindingyourinformation
fromcrediblesources(organizations,
universityresearchersetc.ratherthanany
websiteontheinternet)
• S
ometimesthereisn’taclearcutanswer
inblackandwhite,sometimesthereis
researchthatshowsdifferentsidesof
a message.
MythorFact:Teenscan’tbecomealcoholics
becausetheyhaven’tbeendrinking
longenough.
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Myth or Fact?!
• Y
oucanbecomedependentonalcohol
atanyage,itdependsonhowmuchand
howoftenyouaredrinking
• R
esearchshowsthatteenagedrinking
starts at an early age (early teens)
• A
ccordingtoaresearchprojectthatwas
undertakenbytheNationalInstituteon
AlcoholAbuseandAlcoholism(NIAAA),
peoplewhostarteddrinkingbeforethe
ageof15were4timesmorelikelytoalso
reportmeetingthecriteriaforalcohol
dependenceatsomepointintheirlives.
Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
SOURCES
1. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/alcohol/Pages/about_
alcohol.aspx
2. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.net/about_addiction_mental_health/drug_and_addiction_information/about_alcohol.html
3. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.net/about_addiction_mental_health/drug_and_addiction_information/about_alcohol.html
4. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.net/about_addiction_mental_health/drug_and_addiction_information/about_alcohol.html )
5. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.net/about_addiction_mental_health/drug_and_addiction_information/about_alcohol.html
6. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.net/about_addiction_mental_health/drug_and_addiction_information/about_alcohol.html
7. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/alcohol/Pages/
about_alcohol.aspx
8. Check Yourself.com
http://checkyourself.com/AlcoholMyths.aspx
9. Region of Peel – School Health Survey
http://www.peelregion.ca/health/health-status-report/studenthealth2005/
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Health Services • 7120 Hurontario St., PO Box 610 RPO, Streetsville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2C1 • Tel : 905-799-7700 • www.peelregion.ca
10. CAMH – About Alcohol
http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/alcohol/Pages/
about_alcohol.aspx
11. AADAC – Alcohol Make No Myth-Stake
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/2641.asp
12a. about-alcohol.com
http://www.about-alcohol.com/Alcohol_Abuse_Among_Teenagers.html
12b. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA67/AA67.htm
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