A furry green Muppet with yellow pigtails is the latest attempt to address the impact of the US opioid addiction crisis on those often most affected: the children.

In May, Sesame Street creators introduced Karli, a six-year-old Muppet in foster care and good friend of Elmo.

Now it‘s been revealed that the reason Karli is in foster care is because her mum is battling the “grown-up problem” of addiction.

Sesame Workshop says it has taken on the issue of addiction at a time when data shows one in eight children in the US under the age of 11 live in households with a parent who has a substance abuse disorder.