di Carlo Bellienidirigente del Dipartimento di Terapia intensiva neonatale
del Policlinico Universitario Le Scotte di Siena
Il governo inglese vara delle linee-guida per i genitori su quanti alcolici possono bere i bambini dai 5 anni in su. Sì, avete letto bene: perché sotto i 5 anni è illlegale, ma dai 5 anni in poi il governo spiega quantità e qualità. E’ il solito fenomeno della liberalizzazione quando un fenomeno si fa preoccupante: invece di bloccare gli eccessi col cervello e il cuore, si dà via libera: “basta che non disturbino” e “non si facciano male”. Le associazioni dei genitori sono inferocite.
Ma c’è un altro pensidro: se sotto i 5 anni è vietato perché, almeno per i piccolissimi, ancora ci si rende conto che l’alcol fa male, perché nulla si dice per spiegare alle mamme in attesa che bere alcol (e passarlo attraversando la placenta al feto, lo può danneggiare in modo disastroso? Già, perché? Ai piccoli è permesso, ai piccolissimi è vietato, ma a chi è ancora più piccolissimo (il feto) può arrivare senza problemi.
The five-year-old’s guide to drinking safely
Government to offer parents guidance on their children’s alcohol intake
By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Parents are to be given guidance in the new year for the first time as to how much alcohol their children can drink safely from the ages of five to 18.The Government is also reviewing whether the current age at which it is legal to drink should remain at five.
The Independent has learnt that Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, has been charged with drawing up the new guidelines, which are expected to be ready for publication in the spring. Up until now, ministers have fought shy of issuing recommendations on children’s alcohol consumption, believing it could smack too much of “nanny state” interference. However, a worrying increase in the amount of “binge drinking” among young children has led to a change of heart.
The move has been criticised by parents’ leaders who worry that any guidelines will encourage children to push the boundaries beyond them.
The boundaries will cover all youngsters from the age of five – the age at which drinking alcohol in the home is at present legal – right through until the age of 18. Health department officials point out that current guidance on safe drinking levels exists only for those over 18. They argue that this is a gap which is a cause for concern, given that it is legal for someone aged over five to consume alcohol, and given the risks of drinking to health and development children are greater for children than for adults.
The debate over the guidance will consider the strong line being taken by the Australian government, which says that there is no amount of alcohol that can be said to be safe and therefore young people under the age of 18 should not drink to become intoxicated.
A youth alcohol action plan drawn up by the Government points out that the proportion of teenagers who drink is falling – but that those who do consume a lot more and start at an earlier age, thus impairing their brain development.
Figures show 46 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds said they never drank in 2006 compared to just 38 per cent in 2001. However, of those drinking, the average weekly consumption of alcohol rose from five units in 1990 to more than 11 in 2006. More 15-year-old girls had been drunk in the past four weeks (47 per cent) than had boys (37 per cent).
The action plan warns that youngsters who drink too much alcohol are significantly more likely to take drugs of all kinds and be absent from school. Of those children excluded from school, 45 per cent had a drink in the past week whereas only 21 per cent of those who had never been excluded had drunk alcohol. The plan concludes: “Some parents believe drinking by their teenage children should be restricted to special occasions and in all cases to family settings yet others think that young people under the age of 18 should not drink at all.”
Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the Parents Aloud pressure group, said: “There is no necessity for the guidelines because there should be no reason for children to be introduced to alcohol. For the Government to say you can drink is wrong. OK, by age 16 you need to be realistic but before then it should be absolutely prohibited.”
Hitting the bottle Alcohol and children
*55 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds have had at least one alcoholic drink in their lifetimes.
*11.4 units is the average amount of alcohol consumed per week for 11- to 15-year-olds.
*20 per cent of those who drink buy it from friends or relatives, 18 per cent from off-licences, 14 per cent from shops and supermarkets.
Source: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England in 2006 (published 31 August 2007)
