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Beside the fact that children and teens (people under the age of 18 year) usually have less body weight than the average adult, is there a biologically fundamental difference between the damage done to their bodies compared to an adult when drinking alcohol?

I often read that their organs are still developing and thus alcohol will do more damage, but has this actually been proven?

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As is stated in this article by Hiller-Sturmhöfel and Swartzwelder from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, there are ethical issues surrounding research on human subjects that preclude direct testing, however studies in model mammals and observational studies do find that "adolescence is a unique stage of brain development which is particularly sensitive to the disrupting effects of alcohol."

A research review by Tapert, Caldwell, and Burke, also finds that studies support the conclusions that alcohol use by adolescents and young adults has a negative effect on cognitive abilities.

Hope that begins to provide you with an answer to your question.

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  • $\begingroup$ Is the cognitive damage by alcohol uniquely restricted in "the stage of brain development"? What if the fetus is in its embryo phase without neural system developed yet? $\endgroup$
    – dodo
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 8:23

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