Stop Giving Your Children Alcohol
Parents who allow their children to have alcohol in order to teach them about dangerous drinking may be doing more harm than good.
Experts have said it is “worrying” that advice on underage drinking is not getting through to parents, after a study found one in six of them allow their children to consume alcohol at the age of 14.
Current health guidelines say an alcohol-free childhood is best, with children not drinking any alcohol before they are 15.
But research by the UCL Institute of Education and Pennsylvania State University in the US found that well-educated parents of white children were most likely to allow them to drink before this age.
Parents who did not consume alcohol themselves tended not to let their children drink.
Among those who did, fathers and mothers who drank heavily were no more likely to allow their children to consume alcohol than less frequent drinkers.
Under UK law, it is legal for children aged five to 16 to drink alcohol at home. An adult can also buy beer, wine or cider for a child over the age of 16 if they are eating a meal together in a pub or restaurant.