Alcohol-free lifestyle urged for under-15s

Children should avoid alcohol completely before the age of 15 and not drink on more than one day a week before the age of 18, the UK government's chief medical officer says.

At least 500,000 children aged 11 to 15 get drunk every month and the number has doubled since 1990, Sir Liam Donaldson said.

Alcohol harms the developing brain, causing memory problems and difficulty with finding words. It also has damaging effects on hormone levels, bone density and growth.

In official guidance on drinking by young people, published yesterday, Sir Liam said most parents backed his advice that avoiding alcohol completely before the age of 15 was the healthiest option.

He rejected as a "middle-class obsession" the idea that younger children should be introduced to alcohol with an occasional glass of wine diluted with water or equivalent.

"There is no evidence to support the idea that you should wean children on to alcohol at an early age. The evidence shows that the earlier children are introduced to alcohol, the more likely they are to get a taste for it and become binge drinkers as teenagers and heavy drinkers as adults," Sir Liam said.

Liver specialist Ian Gilmour, president of the Royal College of Physicians and a prominent campaigner for greater restrictions on alcohol, said the way parents introduced their children to drink was key.

"They should set an example. Saying 'Don't do as I do, do as I tell you,' doesn't work."

- INDEPENDENT