HEALTH

Wellness

Have you tasted alcohol?

Though the drinking age in the U.S. has been 21 for nearly three decades, many states have exceptions for alcohol consumption by minors, often when in the company of a family member. So while it’s not outlandish that tweens and teens have sipped alcohol before their 21st birthdays, it does come as a surprise that one-third of third graders surveyed in a new study have tasted beer, wine or liquor.

 

Researchers studied 1,050 mothers and their third-grade kids to see if children were being purposefully introduced to alcohol at a young age, and, if so, to find out why. They discovered that one in four mothers believe that allowing kids to taste alcoholic beverages when they're young will discourage them from drinking recklessly as tweens and teens.

 

According to The Huffington Post, however, these parents couldn’t be more wrong. Past studies have found that fifth-graders who were allowed to have alcohol by their parents are twice as likely to report recent alcohol use in seventh grade, and those who begin drinking before age 15 are six times more likely to develop problems with alcohol than those who start drinking at 21. Yikes!

 

What do you think of this study, babe? Do your parents let you sip from their drinks at home?

POSTED IN , , ,

by Brittany Taylor | 2/1/2016
share