You could be lining children up for life of addiction, health chief warns wine-weaning parents

By Jenny Hope

The 'middle-class obsession' of giving teenagers a small taste of alcohol to 'wean' them was yesterday condemned by the Government's chief medical officer. In the first official advice on drinking and children, Sir Liam Donaldson said parents should give under-15s no alcohol at all. Those aged from 15 to 18 should be allowed a small amount no more than once a week, he said.



The Government's chief medical officer Liam Donaldson criticised parents who offer their under-age children the chance to try alcohol

The unprecedented advice was ordered by the health and children's secretaries last year.

But critics said parents should be left to use their own 'common sense' and warned an outright ban on alcohol risked increasing its allure as 'forbidden fruit'.

Sir Liam's advice is to become part of an official advertising campaign next month aimed at tackling a problem which, according to new NHS figures, sees half a million incidents of 11- to 15-year-olds getting drunk every month.

Sir Liam, who yesterday announced his intention to step down from his post, said myths about children's drinking were harmful. He implied most were held by middle-class parents.

He said the idea that if you ' somehow wean children on to alcohol at an early age they won't have any problems in later life' was not supported by evidence.

Those who let children under 15 sip watered-down wine could give them a 'taste for it', he added.

Sir Liam said studies had shown those who begin drinking early are more likely to develop alcohol-related problems.

'The more they get a taste for it, the more likely they are to be heavy drinking adults or binge drinkers later in childhood,' Sir Liam said.

'It's a bit of a middle-class obsession - the idea of taking out the wine bottle and diluting it.

'There's not a great problem to that as such, but to extrapolate from that sort of situation that alcohol in general is a good thing just does not work.'

The chief medical officer also said parents - who can legally give their children alcohol from the age of five - should also avoid exposing youngsters to 'alcohol-fuelled environments' or family events where drinking is the central activity.

But at the same time he suggested adults could show responsible drinking in a 'positive' setting such as a family meal.

Sir Liam said it was time to change the British culture that the 'purpose of drink is to get drunk'.

He said: 'Alcohol has a ruinous effect on the foundations of adult life. We see the tyranny of alcohol on our towns and city centres and too often childhood is robbed of its clear-eyed innocence and replaced with the befuddled futility that comes with the consumption of dirt cheap alcohol.'

The Department of Health said the uncompromising message won the backing of parents during the consultation earlier this year, even though only 65 contributed.

Critics believe the new advice is 'unrealistic' and of little help.

Margaret Morrissey, of the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: 'It's hard to believe a sip of champagne at a family party or Christmas will cause a lifetime of problems.'

She added that an outright ban would serve only to increase alcohol's allure, adding: 'When you tell a child they can't have something, it becomes a magnificent obsession


source: dailymail