Parents lead children to drink

English parents are more likely to encourage their children to drink than their French and Spanish counterparts. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth found that English parents are notably more permissive when it comes to underage drinking than parents in Norway, France, and Spain. Norwegians were most opposed to 11 to 15 year-olds drinking whereas in England 40 per cent of parents took a much more relaxed view.

The Adolescent Drinking and Family Life Study in Europe found that there was a strong relationship between parental attitudes to alcohol and teenage drinking. There was a clear need to focus on parents in any education campaigns. They studied children aged 11, 13 and 15 and found that the amount of alcohol drunk by children varied widely. 3 per cent of the children said they had drunk more than 36 units of alcohol in the last week. 58 per cent had not drunk at all and 21 per cent had had between one and five units. Over half of all 15 year olds said they had alcohol at least once a week. 12 per cent of those who drank said they had enough to get drunk. 18 per cent just drank until they felt 'merry'.

The children were asked by the researchers whether their parents drank more than once a week. English and French fathers were most likely to set a bad example with up to 40 per cent of their children saying they drank regularly. For Norwegian children, their parents' attitude to drink was an important factor in their own consumption.

The researchers' findings were presented to a British Psychological Society conference in London.

Children with loving and supportive parents were less likely to try alcohol while those whose parents were less strict about underage drinking were more likely to drink. In France and England, parents' alcohol intake and parental attitudes to underage drinking were key factors in whether children drank. The researchers said their findings showed that there was a need for alcohol misuse groups to target parents. Previous studies have also suggested that parental attitudes to alcohol were more influential than those of peer.