Eat, drink (responsibly) and be merry this holiday season

The holidays are a great opportunity to celebrate with family and friends - but now, it has also become a time when a cup of cheer becomes too many cups.

This season, consider the example that you're setting while enjoying that extra cheery eggnog.

A survey of more than 1,000 Americans by Alcohol.org found that 47 percent of men and 40 percent of women binge drink on New Year's Eve, and about 20 percent of Americans binge drink during the winter holidays.

Adults and youth alike are receiving messages that normalize binge holiday drinking.

Rampant social media content and marketing normalizes high levels of alcohol consumption, and research shows that adults are more likely to binge drink during holiday celebrations.

Teens today are busier than ever and many adults may assume that they are not paying attention to their parents' holiday drinking habits. Unfortunately, research on this topic shows that teens have noticed and it's impacting their behavior.

In the 2016 Illinois Youth Survey, 71 percent of eighth-graders and 79 percent of 10th- graders reported "no risk" or "slight risk" if they "have five or more drinks of an alcoholic beverage once or twice a week."

Some adolescents may be more likely to binge drink over the holidays, with an increased risk for older teenagers.

For some youth, their initial exposure to alcohol occurs at home.

Adolescents who observed their parents' drinking and/or alcoholism in childhood are more likely to drink to intoxication in their teenage years.

Further, research has found that letting children have "just a sip" of alcohol may lead to increased underage drinking by the time they enter high school.

Families with a history of alcoholism need to be increasingly mindful of their drinking behavior and may want to reconsider sharing even a sip with their kids at the holiday table.

The good news is that parents and other adults are an important influence on whether their children drink alcohol.

So, what can you do?

1. Set an example and monitor your own behavior. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines adult binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentrations levels to 0.08.

Binge drinking is typically five drinks for men and four drinks for women - in about two hours.

According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020," U.S. Department of Agriculture, moderate drinking is up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.

2. Stay away from alcohol before driving

3. Do not give alcohol to your children (or allow other family members to give them alcohol).

It's especially important to have discussions about underage drinking, set clear rules, enforce those rules, and monitor children's behavior to reduce the likelihood of underage drinking.

This holiday season, talk with your children about underage drinking. The risk of underage drinking increases as children enter later adolescent years, so be proactive. Start setting rules when they're young, and continue to have those conversations year after year.

Let's make this holiday season about prevention - not about drinking.

So, eat, drink, and be merry, but do so responsibly. For more tips on how to chat with your children about underage drinking, visit igotthischicago.org/parents/tips-for-parents/.

• Children's health is a continuing series. This week's article is courtesy of Lurie Children's Hospital. For additional information, visit luriechildrens.org.