Alcohol problem hits parents of 1 in 10 U.S. kids

About 7.5 million children in the U.S. live with a parent who has struggled with alcohol in the past year, a report finds.

Thursday's report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said 6.1 million of those children live with two parents, with either one or both parents experiencing an alcohol use disorder.

"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 later in their lives," SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde told reporters.

The report used data from the 2005-2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual report that covers about 67,500 people aged 12 and over.

Alcohol use disorder was deemed such using the American Psychiatric Association's standard definition, which includes dependence or abuse of alcohol.

A report titled "Children of Alcoholics" published on the Public Health Agency of Canada's website estimated close to one million children up to age 19 lived in a home with alcoholics in Canada in 1991.

In the U.S., Children of Alcoholics Week began Sunday runs through Saturday.