<p>Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option. <br /><br />“Across England, half a million children between the ages of 11 and 15 years will have been drunk in the past four weeks,” Donaldson said. <br /><br />“The science is clear. Drinking, particularly at a young age, a lack of parental supervision, exposing children to drink-fuelled events and failing to engage with them as they grow up are the root causes from which our country’s serious alcohol problem has developed.” <br /><br />Publishing guidance for parents on children and alcohol, he said if children aged between 15 and 17 years are drinking, it should be no more than one day a week, and under parental supervision. <br /><br />Donaldson also criticised parents who got drunk in front of their children.</p>
<p>Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option. <br /><br />“Across England, half a million children between the ages of 11 and 15 years will have been drunk in the past four weeks,” Donaldson said. <br /><br />“The science is clear. Drinking, particularly at a young age, a lack of parental supervision, exposing children to drink-fuelled events and failing to engage with them as they grow up are the root causes from which our country’s serious alcohol problem has developed.” <br /><br />Publishing guidance for parents on children and alcohol, he said if children aged between 15 and 17 years are drinking, it should be no more than one day a week, and under parental supervision. <br /><br />Donaldson also criticised parents who got drunk in front of their children.</p>