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NHS “worrying” figures show at-home drinking among 11 to 15-year-olds is on the rise, despite health risks, including being involved in violence and an increased risk of suicide.

The statistics – included in the report “Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England, 2021 – show 13 per cent of 11-year-olds said they drank alcohol at home with their parents.

In addition, 23 per cent of 12-year-olds and a quarter – 25 per cent – of 13-year-olds said they had drunk alcohol at some point.

The report focused on those who are classed as “current drinkers” – children who drink alcohol at least a few times a year. Eight per cent of 11-year-olds were classed as “current drinkers”.

Almost two-thirds (60 per cent) of 15-year-olds said they drank. Overall, 16 per cent of all ages surveyed (11-15 year olds) had alcohol at least once a month.

Of those who drank at least once a month, 75 per cent of them were given the alcohol by their parents.

Other common ways to source alcohol were to take it from home with permission (50 per cent), or be given it by friends (46 per cent).

When asked where they consumed alcohol, the vast majority of children, 76 per cent, said they drank at home. The figure was just 66 per cent in 2018. Drinking at someone else’s home was the next most common at 42 per cent.

Only 29 per cent of children admitted to drinking at parties with friends.

That’s down significantly from 40 per cent in 2018, before the Covid pandemic.

Current child drinkers were asked who they consume alcohol with. Two thirds (67 per cent) said they drink with their parents while 52 per cent said it was with friends.

In another worrying development, the number of children who said they drink alone rose from 3 per cent in 2018 to 6 per cent in 2021. Nuno Albuquerque, consultant treatment lead at the UK Addiction Treatment Group, analysed the data released by the NHS last week.

He said: “The rise in children drinking alcohol at such a young age, at home, with their parents is really quite worrying.

“Why are parents comfortable with their 11 and 12-year-old children drinking alcohol?”

He added: “It all comes down to a deep misunderstanding of how damaging alcohol can be to a child’s mental and physical development.

“Alcohol is a toxin, and beginning to drink before the age of 14 is proven to be linked to increased health risks, being involved in violence and even suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“It really is that serious.”

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