A recent research carried out by experts at the Center for Public Health shows that teenagers who are not taught by their parents to consume alcoholic drinks in a moderate manner are more likely to start drinking on their own and become heavy drinkers in their youth. The team who wrote the report published in the Center for Public Health journal advised parents to become aware of the fact that if they forbid alcohol to their offsprings, they will not keep them from consuming the nocive drinks. On the contrary, they will make their children buy alcoholic drinks from the Internet or other sources and cause them to drink more.

Researchers involved in the investigation caution that about 90% of teenagers aged between 15 and 16 are prone to binge drinking and most of them purchase alcoholic drinks without telling it to their parents. Even if teenagers do not have the legal age for buying themselves alcohol, the drinks are provided to them by irresponsible older friends, siblings or relatives. Adolescents who are 15 or 16 of age tend to consume more than 5 drinks in one session, which is an alarming fact.

This is why parents should treat their children with a glass of wine, a beer and other alcoholic drinks from time to time, in order to show then that moderate alcohol consumption is not forbidden. This is the most appropriate manner to keep offsprings close to their parents and make them understand that they are allowed to do whatever they want to do in the presence of the family as long as it is ethical and within a sensible limit.

"The ability to drink alcohol sensibly is not a gift people are born with but one that must be learnt. By the age of fifteen the vast majority of young people are already using alcohol and this study suggests that those who do so with their parents are more likely to avoid the most dangerous drinking behaviors," pointed out Professor Mark Bellis who led the research.

The team cautioned that adolescents who go out in bars, in the street or in other places where they cannot be seen by their parents and purchase themselves alcoholic drinks are 6 times more likely to become heavy drinkers later in life. This is why parents have a vital role in teaching their offsprings about the moderate consumption of alcohol. Researchers gave the example of Mediterranean countries where parents offer their children a glass of good wine to go with a delicious meal.

"In the UK we still have a great deal to learn about how parents can best act as alcohol role models and educators for their children. However, a Mediterranean approach to alcohol consumption, with food and with restraint, is unlikely to ever develop in the UK unless parents demonstrate such behaviors and help develop them in their children."

"Advice to parents on monitoring and directing their children's spending may help, but this needs to be accompanied by local provision of affordable, appealing and accessible alternatives to binging on cheap booze," concluded Prof. Bellis.