Parents urged to talk to children about drinking

British ministers called on parents yesterday to talk to their children about alcohol as they launched a new crackdown on under-age drinking.

More than half of young people who have drunk alcohol say they are usually given it by their parents, according to a study commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

And children in households where adults drink heavily are more likely to drink themselves.

Under the Why Let Drink Decide? campaign, new cinema adverts targeted at young people will show the risks associated with alcohol.

Local authorities will be handed "good practice guides" to help them work with other services, such as the police, to stop under-age drinking from becoming a problem in their area.

The new research, which questioned more than 4,000 parents, children and young people, reveals one in four (26 per cent) of youngsters said their parent had never talked to them about alcohol.

Almost one in 10 (nine per cent) are unaware that their child has ever drunk alcohol.

Some 17 per cent of parents said they had thought about what to do if drinking was becoming a problem for their child, but eight in 10 (80 per cent) said they would just deal with it when it happens.

Schools minister Vernon Coaker said: "The research shows that parents underestimate their influence over their child's drinking and attitudes to alcohol, yet a quarter of young people have never spoken to their parents about the issue."