Children are Introduced to Sipping & Tasting Alcohol in the Home

• Very little is known about alcohol use by children.
• New findings show that the introduction to alcohol use may occur as early as eight or 10 years of age, and is an experience that typically occurs in the home.
• Sipping and tasting reflect exposure to parental alcohol use in the home and do not reflect a proneness to engage in delinquent behavior or other problem behaviors.

Most studies of alcohol use among youth have focused on drinking by children in middle or high school. This study is one of the few to examine the earliest exposure to alcohol – sipping or tasting – in a large community sample of children. Findings indicate that the introduction to alcohol occurs long before adolescence, and it is an experience that occurs in the home.

Results are published in the January issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.