Even a supervised glass of beer or wine can expose children to a much higher risk of alcohol abuse in early adulthood.
An Australian study published in the journal Addiction on Tuesday finds that 12-year-olds exposed to alcohol are more likely to suffer from binge drinking, alcohol dependence or abuse in early adulthood than those that first drink at age 18.
And while parents might look to gently introduce booze to their children around the family dinner before the legal age, the advice is plain: think again.
"There's a really long-standing idea that introducing alcohol safely at a younger age prevents harm later on," said Philip Clare, a report author and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.
"I think a lot of the people involved in this study were really hoping that's what we would find.
"But what we've seen, basically, is that there's no evidence for that benefit, at least in Australia."
The study is based on annual check-ins with 900 Australian young people as they reached adulthood, tracking their relationships with alcohol.
Those who began drinking at age 12 were less likely to adopt harmful behaviours in the next year they drank, compared with young people who had their first drink at 18.
The research found something of a snowball effect, in that the more years a young person drank below the legal age, the more likely the harm.
"It's kind of like less acceleration, a greater higher speed," Dr Claire said.
Those who started drinking at 12 were 73 per cent more likely to experience alcohol-related harms and 54 per cent more likely to suffer alcohol abuse at age 20 than those who started later in their adolescence.
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre deputy director Amy Peacock, also a report author, said the findings made the case for improved public health guidance to reduce alcohol intake among children.
“It also challenges the assumption that the occasional sip or taste at the dinner table with parents is harmless," she said.
Dr Clare said a similar study abroad might reach a different conclusion.
"Drinking culture in Australia is pretty harmful," he said.
"The drinking culture in somewhere like, say, France or Italy, where there is a lot of really low-level consumption, a little glass of wine with dinner, and that's it.
"Potentially, not as much harm is seen. But really ... there's not really a safe level of alcohol, so the more alcohol you drink, the worse it is for you."
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