Impact of Binge drinking

The Chief Medical Officer has today warned that parents who allow their children to drink alcohol before the age of 15 could be putting them on the road to binge drinking and physical and mental health problems. Professor Sir Liam Donaldson 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.”

Published this morning, official guidance on alcohol consumption by young people clearly states that parents must realise that a “laissez-faire” attitude to their children drinking or getting drunk is putting them at risk. Sir Liam dismissed the “middle-class obsession” with giving small quantities of wine to children, often diluted, to help them to build up a more responsible attitude towards drinking, saying that studies showed that it often had the opposite effect.

In setting out his final report, after announcing this week his decision to step down, which is to be the backbone of a public health campaign next year led by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, he said that parents supported his proposals for an “alcohol-free” childhood. He added that the Government’s refusal to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol, contrary to health professionals’ advice and scientific research, was a battle he would continue to fight.

Between the ages of 15 and 17, if youngsters drink at all then they should do so infrequently, Sir Liam recommended. Parents should avoid exposing them to “alcohol-fuelled environments” or family events where drinking was the central activity. They must also realise that allowing younger teenagers to drink alcohol with their friends could be storing up 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,” he said.

The study by YouGov for charities “Save the Children” and “Family Action” found that 51 per cent of UK parents (on an income below £30,000) cannot afford everything their child needs as they prepare for the first new school year since the start of the economic downturn.

The study also found that over a quarter of parents (26%) on incomes under £12,000 a year will have to borrow money to cover all of the back to school costs, meaning that debt problems could develop if these aren’t repaid.

Half of low-income families asked said they will have problems buying new shoes, while 28 per cent said they won’t be able to buy their children a winter coat.

Ivan Cooper, Chairman at debt management specialists Chiltern, said: “If people are resorting to borrowing money to cover living costs like school uniforms and child’s shoes, they run the risk of developing serious debt problems, as these essential iving costs should ideally be budgeted for and should come out of the household income.”

Uniforms were also a particular concern for parents, with 43 per cent claiming they will struggle to afford it.

Colette Marshall, director of Save the Children UK, said: “It is unacceptable that many parents, especially those on a low income, cannot afford to buy their children a winter coat or new shoes.

“The government must ensure families who are struggling to afford school costs can at least get a uniform grant from their local authority. However, this is just one thing they need to do if they are to end child poverty in the UK by 2020.”