Binge drinking adults 'send the wrong message to children'

A couple of glasses of wine after a stressful day in the office may seem perfectly normal, but adult drinkers may be setting a bad influence to youngsters, according to researchers.

Many children as young as nine think adults who binge drink are behaving normally, said a survey published today.

A third of youngsters questioned by researchers said they believed five or more glasses of wine in one night was normal for adults.

More than a quarter of children thought drinking four pints of beer in an evening was usual.

Both are above levels the health service considers as binge drinking. The NHS says men who drink more than five glasses of wine or three and a half pints of beer a day are bingeing.

For women, four glasses of wine a day is considered as binge drinking.

The study questioned nearly 1,500 nine to 11-year-old children about their perceptions of adult alcohol consumption.

Stephen Burgess, national director of children's health charity Life Education,  said: 'As educationalists, health workers, the media, advertisers or simply parents we must take these results seriously and consider carefully the messages we are sending to children.

'We need to look at what role models we wish to provide and to make sure children understand that a healthy life does not involve excessive drinking.'

Some 60 per cent of those surveyed said they believe people on TV drink too much and about the same proportion told researchers at Life Education that people drink alcohol to forget about their problems.

The terrifying scale of binge drinking in Britain was revealed last month when it  emerged more than 160 children are admitted to hospital each year with alcohol-related problems.

The numbers are up more than 50 per cent since 1996 and up 7 per cent  in the last year.

A poll of 8,000 teenagers found those aged 11 to 15 who admitted drinking around 11.4 units a week.

That amounts to nearly two bottles of wine or almost 12 shots of whisky.