Parents warned against long-term effects of giving teenagers just a sip of beer

That occasional bit of bubbly at Christmas may not have been worth it after all

Parents have been warned against allowing their children to have even an occasional sip of alcohol.

Now we’re not here to judge whether or not you were sneaking drinks at family parties, replacing your parents’ spirits with water or being allowed ‘just the one’ at New Year — but an increasing number of studies suggest that doing any of the above may not be wise.

The legal age to consume alcohol varies around the world, typically hovering around the ages of 18 and 21, however, even at this point, your brain is still several years away from becoming fully mature.

And the impact of boozing on an underdeveloped brain can be particularly damaging

Do young people need to change our opinions towards alcohol? (Getty Stock Images)

Is it really better for parents to allow their children to drink alcohol?

There’s a long-held belief that parents allowing their children to have the occasional drink while at home and under supervision would encourage them to develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.

However, this may not be exactly true.

“There was this long history of people thinking that if you taught your kids how to drink, then they wouldn’t have problems with drinking,” Lindsay Squeglia, a researcher at Medical University of South Carolina told NatGeo.

“Research over the past couple of decades has really shown that is not true.”

The research also casts doubt on the argument that slowly introducing your children to boozing is better than outright forbidding it.

A ‘European method’ of drinking, where young people are gradually exposed to alcohol, may not be the best approach (Getty Stock Images)

Known as the ‘European model’, this approach to drinking sees parents offer their children small sips of alcohol in the belief that it will prevent binge drinking, also may not be entirely true, according to a 2016 study.

A 2020 study adds that children who are given alcohol by their parents are also more susceptible to ‘more risky drinking and alcohol-related harm’.

The impact of alcohol on the developing brain

The human brain doesn’t finish fully developing until your mid-to-late twenties, 25 is often a rough age put forward by experts when it comes to prefrontal cortex development, which means that a heavy consumption of alcohol in your earlier years will have an impact how your mind develops.

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According to statistics cited by Drinkaware, teenagers who engage in binge drinking put themselves at a greater risk of negatively impacting their concentration and learning.

Experts urge young people to wait as long as possible before engaging in drinking (Getty Stock Images)

An earlier exposure to alcohol also puts teenagers at risk of developing a dependency later in life. “A lot of people describe the adolescent brain as having a fully developed gas pedal without brakes,” Squeglia previously explained to the BBC.

“Our message is delay as long as you can, because your brain is still developing, and let your brain develop and be as healthy as it can before you start engaging in things like alcohol and other substance use.”