Drink guidance ‘to help parents’

ONE in 10 children aged 11 to 14 in Oldham have admitted being drunk three times in the last four weeks — shocking figures have revealed.

And a further 15 per cent of children in the age group have been drunk at least once or twice before, according to Ofsted’s Tell Us3 survey.

It comes as the Government’s chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said children under 15 should not drink a drop of alcohol at home.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said the Government had a responsibility to provide straight-forward guidance to parents.

The proposals, which will now be consulted on, also suggest 15 to 17-year-olds should only drink when supervised by a parent or in a supervised environment.

If this age group do drink, it should be infrequent and certainly on no more than on one day a week, it said.

Sir Liam said the brains of children under 15 were still developing and drinking alcohol could do serious damage.

He added: “This guidance aims to support parents and give them the confidence to set boundaries.”