One in 10 US children have alcoholic parent—study

WASHINGTON—One in 10 children in the United States are living with a mother or father who has an alcohol problem and many reside with two parents who are afflicted, a government report said Thursday.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) 7.5 million children – about 10.5 percent of the US population under age 18 – live with a parent who suffered an alcohol use disorder.

Some 6.1 million children live in two-parent households where one or both parents suffered from alcohol abuse. The remaining 1.4 million lived in a single-parent home where the adult had a drinking problem.

The study was conducted between 2005 and 2010 and its details were published to coincide with Children of Alcoholics Week, which ends on February 18.

“The enormity of this public health problem goes well beyond these tragic numbers as studies have shown that the children of parents with untreated alcohol disorders are at far greater risk for developing alcohol and other problems in life,” Samhsa representative Pamela Hyde said in a statement.

The report follows a government study last month that showed binge drinking is more common in the United States than previously thought, particularly among young adults, though the most frequent offenders are over 65.