Parents giving children alcohol may not stop future risky drinking behaviour: new study

PARENTS who give their underage kids alcohol may not be helping them reduce future risky drinking behaviour, according to a new study.

PARENTS who give their underage teenagers alcohol in an attempt to reduce risky drinking may not be helping them avoid harms, a new Australian study says.

Almost 2000 teens aged 12-18 were surveyed over six years about how they accessed booze, binge drinking levels and alcohol-related harms.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales led the research, and found no evidence that supplying teenagers with alcohol had protective effects.

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The authors said their study showed parental supply of alcohol was associated with risks when compared with children not given it.

Giving teens alcohol may not help reduce risky drinking behaviour.

It found teens who were given alcohol by their parents one year were twice as likely to access it from other sources the following year.

“By giving alcohol to your children, even for the very best reasons, you are not reducing their risks of harmful drinking — you are actually increasing their risks of harms,” lead author Professor Richard Mattick said.

“The reasons for this are most likely that by giving children alcohol, you are giving them permission to drink.”

Reviewers of the paper, published in The Lancet, said more research was needed on the topic.