Letting children try alcohol puts their health at risk, parents told

MIDDLE class parents risk harming their children by letting them drink alcohol before they turn 14 in a misguided effort to teach “responsible” drinking.

A study of 10,000 UK children, published yesterday, found parents who were white and well educated were more likely than any other group to promote adolescent drinking.

The data revealed nearly one in five parents in Britain let their children have a drink before the age of 14.

Evidence suggests alcohol can harm children physically and mentally if taken before they are sufficiently developed. Government advice recommends no drinking before the age of 15.

Last night academics said it was “worrying” that some groups of parents ignored the advice.

Analysing more than 10,000 millennial children born in the UK, researchers at University College London and Pennsylvania State University examined reports of parental drinking habits and attitudes to drinking.

They linked this to information on family structure, employment status and parents’ education.

“Parents of socially advantaged children may believe that allowing children to drink will teach them responsible use or may in fact inoculate them against dangerous drinking,” said Prof Jennifer Maggs, who led the research. “However, there is little research to support these ideas.”

Previous surveys showed that British teenage girls were among the most drunken in Europe, with around half of 15 and 16-year-olds admitting to getting intoxicated at least once a month in 2012.

The new report reveals that white parents who were employed, well-educated and who drank alcohol were more likely to allow their children to drink than unemployed parents, those with fewer educational qualifications, and ethnic minority parents. Parents who abstained tended not to allow their children to drink at all.

Dr Katherine Brown, chief executive of the Institute for Alcohol Studies, said: “It is worrying to see that this advice may not be getting across to parents who are trying to do their best to teach their children about alcohol.

“We need to see better guidance offered to parents via social marketing campaigns and advice from doctors and schools.”

In 2015 AGE UK warned that harmful drinking had become a “middleclass phenomenon”.

Dr John Larsen, director of evidence and impact at Drinkaware, said: “Alcohol can harm children’s development, so the best childhood is one that is alcohol free.” The research was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.