It may be done with the best of intentions, but parents giving their teenagers a sip of alcohol has no effect on young people avoiding risky drinking behaviour later in life, a new study has found.
A report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found supplying teenagers with a small amounts of booze led to increased levels of binge drinking when they became older.
The risk of harmful drinking behaviour was higher in those who had been given a sip by their parents, compared to teenagers who were not offered any alcohol at all.
The study surveyed more than 1900 teenagers and their parents at the start of high school and followed them each year for seven years from 2010.
Lead author of the report, Alexandra Aiken, said while supplying sips was often seen as a harm-reduction strategy by parents, it had the opposite effect.
"Parental supply of sips in one year was associated with increased risk of binge drinking and alcohol-related harms a year later, compared with no supply," Ms Aiken said.
"As the quantity of alcohol supplied increased, so, too, did the risk of adverse outcomes."
The consumption of alcohol is among the leading contributors to the disease burden among teenagers, and has been linked to negative health outcomes such as the development of alcohol-use disorder.
The sipping of alcohol is the most common of alcohol consumption among young people and normally supervised by parents.
Ms Aiken said teenagers given a single sip of beer or other alcohols in family settings was often associated with parental approval and the modelling of behaviours around alcohol.
"Relative to no parental supply, parental supply of even small amounts of alcohol in early adolescence may hasten alcohol initiation...and may reduce barriers to alcohol use, all of which in turn might encourage further alcohol consumption," Ms Aiken said.
"We believe there is now a strong case for the development of a parent-based intervention, focused on reducing parental provision of alcohol to their children, including the provision of sips."
The average age of young people trying alcohol for the first time has risen over recent decades, from 14.8 in 1995 to 16.1 in 2016.
Dr Philip Clare from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre said there was a rise in risky drinking during the course of adolescence.
"Binge drinking is fairly rare in younger adolescence, at less than 5 per cent, but by 17, over a third report binge drinking," he said.
"While it may be difficult, the best thing parents can do is to stop supplying alcohol."
While Dr Clare said while the research showed some differences between boys and girls, the overall link between parental supply and subsequent harm was true, regardless of gender.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
