--- title: Kids Should Have the Talk About Drinking As Young As 9, Doctors Say description: In the United States, alcohol is the substance most commonly abused by kids and adolescents, and according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), health care professionals should start discussing the risks of drinking when kids are as young as nine. canonical: https://time.com/4017694/drinking-talk-by-age-nine/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-31T18:40:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:58.345Z article:section: Health og:title: Your Kids Should Know About the Dangers of Drinking By Age 10 og:description: Doctors recommend health professionals bring up boozing with pre-teens og:url: https://time.com/4017694/drinking-talk-by-age-nine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c2f4aa793747e5/698861c50a4a22ba7f9c5e25/beer2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4863 og:image:height: 2735 og:image:alt: 504494219 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Kids Should Know About the Dangers of Drinking By Age 10 twitter:description: Doctors recommend health professionals bring up boozing with pre-teens twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c2f4aa793747e5/698861c50a4a22ba7f9c5e25/beer2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Your Kids Should Know About the Dangers of Drinking By Age 10, Doctors Say > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Drink Red Wine? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Drink Red Wine?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JLVLyuEq.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-03-12. Cheers to your health! All five of our experts give red wine a purple-stained smile._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 31, 2015 6:40 PM UTC  Overfull Glass of Beer with Condensation Overfull Glass of Beer with Condensation Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 31, 2015 6:40 PM UTC Health care professionals should be talking to children about the risks of alcoholic drinks when they are as young as nine, according to a [new report](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2015/08/26/peds.2015-2337.full.pdf) from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). “Surveys indicate that children start to think positively about alcohol between ages 9 and 13 years,” the AAP authors write in the report. “The more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, and if they are already drinking, this exposure leads them to drink more. Therefore, it is very important to start talking to children about the dangers of drinking as early as 9 years of age.” In the United States, alcohol is the substance most commonly abused by kids and adolescents. The new report says that 21% of young people say they had more than a sip of an alcoholic beverage before they were 13 years old, and 79% have tried alcoholic drinks by the time they were seniors in high school. The study also found that 80% of adolescents say their parents are the biggest influence on whether they drink or not, which suggests parents have a role as well. “We must approach drinking in children, particularly binge drinking, differently than we do in adults,” said co author and pediatrician Dr. Lorena Siqueira, a member of the AAP Committee on Substance Abuse. “Given their lack of experience with alcohol and smaller bodies, children and adolescents can have serious consequences — including death — with their first episode of binge drinking.” Other research reviewed by the AAP committee suggested that continued use of alcohol at a young age can hinder brain development, lead to alcohol-induced brain damage, and increase the risk of substance use problems later on. The AAP says every pediatrician should screen their adolescent patients for alcohol use during appointments and offer preventative messaging. The report authors focused specifically on the risks of binge drinking, which is classified as three or more drinks in a two-hour period for girls between ages nine and 17\. For boys it’s three or more drinks in two hours between age 9 to 13, four or more drinks for boys ages 14 to 15, and five or more drinks for boys ages 16 to 17\. The authors note that drinking rates increase in high school with 36 to 50% of high school students drinking and 28% to 60% binge drinking. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Should you drink red wine? It's your lucky day. All five of our experts give red wine a purple stained smile. A standard pour has 125 calories, so it's lighter than beer and mixed drinks, says Julia Zunpano. And of course it's packed with antioxidants. Alcohol is actually good for you if you drink it moderately. Drinking alcohol is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality compared to drinking too much or drinking not at all says Luigi Ferrucci. Ferrucci. Red wine might be particularly beneficial, but some recent studies suggest that we shouldn't give the famous compound resveratrol all the credit. There's likely not enough of it to make a difference, says resveratrol researcher Juan Carlos Espin. But we do know is that David Katz. Is that drinking habitually but moderately is part of the Mediterranean diet and linked to a long life. Just ask cardiologist James O'Keefe who loves red wine for its ability to lower the risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure and stroke. His grandmother Dorothy lived to be be 103, and she enjoyed the happy hour drink every night. The key to a long healthy life, Dorothy O'Keefe used to say, is to not drink too much. 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