Children from families with heavy substance consumption: conclusions for Switzerland

The physical and mental development of children can be harmed if their parents regularly consume or use excessive amounts of substances such as alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs. This harm manifests itself, for example, in social problems, abnormal behaviour patterns or adverse effects on health such as respiratory illnesses due to the exposure to passive smoking. The study "Children from families with high-risk substance use", conducted by the Bern University of Applied Sciences on behalf of the FOPH, provides figures showing the magnitude of the problem.

In Switzerland, around one child in three lives in an environment where one or both of the parents use products containing nicotine on a daily basis. One child in 17 grows up in a home in which the parents smoke. 5.8% of children are affected by the high-risk alcohol consumption of their parents. A smaller percentage of children (1.8%) have parents who use illegal drugs (e.g. cannabis, cocaine, heroin).

Boys and girls from single-parent households and from low-income families, in particular, frequently live with parents who use high-risk substances. This applies across all substances. Fathers are more likely to use high-risk substances than mothers. Social factors have a very significant impact on the use of nicotine. Not only income, but also education and any migration background have a considerable influence on the parental use of tobacco products and e-cigarettes.

The study shows that the parents of young children are much less likely to drink alcohol or smoke excessively. The older the children, the more likely the parents are to use have a heavy substance consumption. This suggests that young children have a positive influence on the substance use of their parents.