This summer, parents and carers are being encouraged not to add alcohol to the mix to protect children from risk.
Evidence is clear now that introducing children to alcohol – especially before 15 – can:
- Harm developing bodies and brains
- Worsen any feelings of low mood or depression
- Put their safety at risk
- Open the door to more regular teenage drinking and heavier drinking as adults
Alcohol is a group one carcinogen[i] and a direct cause of seven types of cancer, including bowel and breast cancer[ii]. Alcohol is driving nearly one million hospital admissions a year among adults from heart disease, mental health and behavioural disorders due to alcohol, cancer and liver disease.
Alcohol use can also increase the risk of children becoming involved in risky situations, such as violence and disorder, drug and tobacco use and unsafe sex.
Chief Medical Officer Guidance is that no alcohol under 18 is the healthiest and safest option but if children do drink, it should not be before the age of 15. If children aged 15-17 do drink it should only be in a supervised environment, and no more than once a week.
Although deaths from alcohol are at record level, more young people and adults are now choosing not to drink for better physical and mental health.
Susan Taylor, Head of Alcohol Policy for Balance, said: “Every parent and carer wants the best for their child. But alcohol use during teenage years can harm physical health and mental health.
“The alcohol industry has long promoted alcohol as a normal part of a happy, successful life but in reality, too many adults and children are ending up in hospital, in A&E or with real problems in their lives because of alcohol.
“Hospitals are now seeing people at a younger age with alcohol-related conditions such as liver disease. Alcohol intake can catch up with people much sooner than we sometimes think.
“The longer we can delay drinking alcohol in the lives of our children, the better. The younger they drink, the more likely they will develop a taste for it and encounter all the risks.”
The law is clear that buying alcohol under 18 or selling it to children under 18 is illegal. Supplying children with alcohol undermines these important age of sale laws which are there to protect both children and local communities.
Information for parents and a FREE guide about talking to children about alcohol is available at Whatstheharm.co.uk
Watch the campaign film:
[i] https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health
[ii] https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/news/new-genetic-study-confirms-that-alcohol-is-a-direct-cause-of-cancer
