Study Links Letting Kids Sip Alcohol To Later Drinking

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CBS) -- Letting children have even a sip of alcohol could lead to danger, according to a new study.

Researchers at Brown University's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies found that giving kids a taste of alcohol before the sixth grade made them five times more likely to have a full drink by ninth grade than children who never had a sip.

Children who had sipped alcohol were also four times more likely to have been drunk and 3.7 times more likely to have tried binge drinking before their freshman year of high school, the study found.

The study is a counterpoint to the belief that letting children try alcohol early on will make it less tempting to them later. But while researchers say there's reason to believe sipping can be related to later alcohol use, they don't want parents to overreact if they have given their kids a taste of booze.

"We're not saying your child is doomed," researcher Kristina Jackson said. "The vast majority of children, even if they had sipped alcohol when they were younger, did not report evidence of problem drinking."

The study involved 560 Rhode Island children, and roughly three in 10 reported sipping alcohol before sixth grade.

Nine in 10 children said they have not gotten drunk before the ninth grade.

The findings "should encourage parents to be clear and consistent with children that alcohol is not for them. . . including keeping it out of their reach around and beyond the home," researchers say.