http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8413559.stm

Article above.

This one struck me as rather novel all told. Sir Liam makes fairly repeated statements that giving any form of alcohol to children under the age of 15 is almost certain to lead to them ending up binge drinking, including the repeat statement that this was a scientific position. Anyone know where this research is from, as most of mainland Europe seems to suggest otherwise pretty strongly (it's not perfect I know).

load of Bo11ox

Me or Sir Liam?

I started drinking beer and wine when I was about 9. I learnt how to drink, when to drink, never to drink alone and never to drink to excess...

I've never been a binge drinker, I've been so drunk, that I was violent or caused a nuisance. The only time I've been "ill" after drinking, was when I made the mistake of drinking a large glass of milk, on top of a few pints of Newcastle Brown!

I've been out on the "razz", but I always knew my limits and stopped before I went over them.

I think the issue is not, whether children get access to alcohol before they are 18, but how they are exposed to alcohol...

The Sir who should know better

Totally agree

So the evidence is that if you let your children drink without supervision, control and not giving a toss about what they are doing will give them a distorted view on alcohol and may lead to abuse later on in life. Not giving children an structure to alcohol use and educating them on how, when and where it is acceptable and how much. bit of a no [LIFTED] sherlock research there

But since he is paid by the government to follow there political "science" agenda and not be independant (and we know how this government like independant advice!) this can be taken with a pinch of salt, a lime and a shot of Tequila

Of course as an aside since the limits of units which were decided on as "safe" consumption mean nothing and were made up because the comititee felt they had to give limit, what are people suppose to believe.

Is this the same Sir Liam who would have us all queuing up for Swine FLu vaccines because there is a major plague ravaging the nation?

I am growing very suspicious of this man’s advice.

What's swine flu?

When I was a kid, I was given alcohol by my parents. I remember going to the local area of wasteland, picking blackberries and my dad making wine out of them. I helped syphon the stuff out of the demi-johns into bottles and corking them. I drank and helped make booze as a kid. I even made my own out of tea when I was about 10 or 11.

And here I am now, a non-binge drinker who has a healthy respect for alcohol.

I've been drinking since I was 3. I think being given drink as a child has helped me respect alcohol more.

I wouldn't call myself a binge drinker, I go out perhaps once every week or two usually. Though, we did calculate that six pints of Guinness in a week and you'd be considered a binge drinker, so given that I might occasionally go out more than once a week, and probably consume 3-4 pints of Guinness, plus rum chasers, I'm an occasional binge drinker, even though I tend not to get drunk...

Nightclubs and cheap supermarket booze fuel binge drinking.

And “happy hours”. Not so happy when you are lying face down in the gutter in a pool of your own piss, sick and blood, though, eh?

The unrelenting negativity of Brown's Britain - a non stop stream lying/corrupt politicians, reality TV, sham "talent" shows (viewed by 20% of the population), exaggerated threats of terrorism, paedophilia and false epidemics is enough to drive anyone to binge drinking. Merry kissmyass

Sounds like a good night out

Heh, but no. Seriously. Look at the French. They're drinking from the time they can walk!

The likes of France have often been put forward as good examples of introducing kids to alcohol to teach them about it at an early age.

The trouble is that on the Continent they are now starting to experience binge drinking like we've had in the UK for many a year.

Therefore, I would imagine that because there have been differing cultural attitudes towards when people are introduced to alcohol, and yet we are now experiencing the same problems, that there must be other factors involved.