UK: Tough child alcohol guidance due

[size=+1]Tough child alcohol guidance due[/size]

Children aged under 15 should never be given alcohol, even in small quantities, England's chief medical officer is expected to say.

A recent survey revealed 20% of 13-year-olds drank alcohol at least once a week.

Sir Liam Donaldson will also call for parents and carers to supervise any older children given alcoholic drinks.

The 'no drink' stance is backed by charities such as Alcohol Concern and the Royal College of Physicians.

The guideline is the first on children and alcohol produced by the government, and it is understood that there is no intention to back it with legislation.

Currently, it is legal for parents to give any child over five alcohol in the home.

The public will be asked for its views on the advice during a consultation period.

Ministers and doctors are worried by rising rates of binge-drinking and alcohol-related liver disease in the young, and see the guideline as a necessary step in preventing people getting a taste for alcohol at too young an age.

Although some parents, and researchers, have argued that giving a child an occasional drink helps demystify it, and reduce the chance of bingeing later on, Sir Liam will insist that an "alcohol-free childhood" is the healthiest and best option.

Parents should be aware that drinking, even at age 15 or older, can be hazardous to health.

Children over 15 should not be given alcohol on more than one day a week, he said.

Alcohol Concern has already welcomed the proposal, with a spokesman telling the Observer newspaper: "Parents have for too long received mixed messages about whether they should give their children a little bit of alcohol or not.

However, she added: "There are an awful lot more factors that influence young people's drinking than just what their parents say.

"The easy availability of alcohol at pocket money prices is far more important."

Professor Ian Gilmore, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, also told the Observer that the guidance would "make sense" to parents.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/7856595.stm

Published: 2009/01/29 05:59:43 GMT

© BBC MMIX

You know they want to pass a law about this. Let parents deal with their own kids. The government is not mommy and daddy and has to stay out of people's private lives. We have enough laws already.

"Parents have for too long received mixed messages about whether they should give their children a little bit of alcohol or not.

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How about you stop sending them messages and shut the fuck up.

LOL, it is funny that these 13 year olds who binge drink once a week would be alot healthier smoking a joint once a week. Binge drinking is such an unhealthy practise, is it any wonder though that children percieve it as acceptable when it is the only intoxicant endorsed by the Government? Maybe ban sporting sponsorships since alcohol is basically a fucking sporting icon nowadays, or the ridiculous ads glamourising drinking shown at all times of the day.
They create a problem via absolute ignorance and a desire to generate revenue and now they are basically pointing the fingers at parents who allow their children to consume any quantity of a drug they have basically been lead to believe is "safe" or atleast "significantly safer" than the alternative. Almost all children that I knew growing up who's parents allowed them to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, the parents mentality was "atleast they re not doing drugs on the streets this way".