children drinking (alcohol free) beer

I think I would have been horrified too! Alcohol free beers look like the real thing, whereas ginger beer and root beer are sold in pop bottles/cans. I would see it as a slippery slope, preferring that children get the message that alcohol is for adults only. Entertaining your Slovakian friends (I enjoyed your account of their breakfast feast) has certainly been a learning curve, by the sounds of it.

I don't think it's a good idea for very young children to become accustomed to the flavour of beer even if it is non alcoholic. It's definitely a slippery slope. They will probably go straight on to the real stuff without that right of passage of not really liking alcohol but wanting to keep up with their peers.

At one time, Eton had its own brewery... Of course in those days the water was unfit for drinking, but as the brewing process involved boiling, the beer was much safer. That was also the reason tea drinking overtook coffee as the ladies' referred social bevvy... boiled water, for tea, but never for coffee.

Not horrified, I didn't want mine thinking that alcohol was a treat. Or a reward. So they were offered it on Saturday nights or Sunday lunchtimes, disliked it, didn't see it as anything special and now, more often than not, only drink to be polite. As I was brought up the same way (so was DBH)and only have one glass of red, or white a week on average (I occasionally have half an inch at the bottom of a small paris goblet) I think I can safely say that it works, as none of my sisters drink much either. My SiL was also brought up that way, and doesn't drink at all.

Ex however was brought up to think that it was something of a treat not to be touched until he was a Real Man, saw it as something akin to acquiring a sports car or something, and became an alcoholic. He wanted to join that secret and exclusive club of men in pubs.

Never gave mine Coke either, or many fizzy drinks.

Friends had a soda fountain many years ago, mine always begged for one but I refused.

Encouraging a 2 year old to drink alcohol free beer is very wrong and I don't think it is right to give any to the older girls either.

I'm amazed that a child would like the taste!

Crikey GRANNY these folk from Slovakia must have been a real eye opener for you .
Have you known them a long time ?

Vile, tastes like stewed grass smells.

Nonu the dad was my au pair twenty years ago and we've continued to keep in touch. He and his wife are both lawyers!! We visited them in Slovakia eight years ago and I've only just got over them serving us liver and apple for breakfast. My children deserved Oscars for their responses - gamely tucking in and 'enjoying' the meal.

OH , I see now !!

Don't tell the breweries anyone. They will start pushing it as the latest sugar free soft drink for kids.

I suppose you have to ask the question is it the norm for young children in Slovakia to drink alcohol free beer with their family. If it is, next question, does Slovakia have a big problem with alcoholism, if not and adults there drink responsibly then perhaps this country could learn a thing or two. Most 18-25 year olds in this country don't seem to think they've had much of a night out if they can still stand unaided by the time they go home.

I agree with janerowena, my father used to give his five children half a small glass of beer every now and again. None of us are drinkers, I have seen my brother at a pub drink a beer then go onto drink lemon squash for the rest of the night. I like the occasional glass of beer about twice a year or a glass of wine with a meal if eating out. Two of my sisters occasionally enjoy a glass of wine with a meal and my other sister doesn't drink at all.

I didn't offer my children glasses of beer and they all drink. My daughters love wine and my son drinks beer. They are not alcoholics but they certainly enjoy a drink.

Oh how interesting. I've often thought that one of the problems with youth drinking is alcoholic drinks marketed to appeal to tastes moulded by brightly coloured, strongly flavoured and heavily sweetened drinks which are consumed in giant servings. These drinks were never a part of my children's childhood and as adults they've never been big drinkers. But beer and wine and spirits were part of my children's childhood and so in theory they should be susceptible to overindulge in more traditional forms of alcohol but they never have.

We bought little bottles of continental lager which the children added to lemonade as if the lager was squash - giving them the feeling that they were drinking beer but with no more alcohol than granny's trifle. This started from the age of 10. And at about the same age my daughter was in charge of making gin based cocktails to serve to adults. It sounds so wrong now - yet at the time it seemed quite normal. I think I can count the number of times I've over indulged in alcohol on my fingers (ok I might need a few toes as well). My children drink alcohol but never to excess.

I think it's more about teaching your children how to enjoy alcohol sensibly. I'm astonished that a 2 year old would like the taste of alcohol free beer but I can't help thinking that it's probably much better for her teeth than fruit juice or fizzy drinks.

My Gd loves drinking bottled water - it makes her feel just like the grown ups.

What's shocking about drinking a non-alcoholic drink that is called beer? Have you not heard of Root Beer? That's non-alcoholic too.

If a drink is refreshing and safe for children, what does it matter what it's called?

We used to call Minibags's Ribena her red wine when we were drinking red wine at dinner.

Fuss about nothing.

Especially as there's nothing actually wrong with drinking beer anyway.

The only wrong thing is overindulging and that isn't the issue.

If children are brought up to regard alcoholic drinks in moderation as a normal part of adult life, they are less likely, I feel, when they reach the legal drinking age to go daft with over-drinking.

It seems to me that there are two common routes to abusing alcohol. One is to be born into a family where being sozzled nightly is the norm, the other is being born into one where the "demon drink" is either to be avoided completely or where it is only for responsible grownups to even have a sip. There is nothing like forbidden fruit to lead into temptation.

I would have thought that alcohol free beer is just another fizzy drink.
Personally I would not be giving a 2 year old any fizzy drinks because I believe they are bad for their teeth.

Not sure about the 10 and 12 year olds but I would not have thought of offering them beer. Reading other posts about people being offered small amounts of alcoholic drinks when they were young made me think: I was not offered any and I still don't drink to excess - some wine at weekends and perhaps a lager about twice a year.

Elegran, research is ongoing into whether alcoholism is genetic. It will be interesting to know the outcome.

I imagine that the predisposition to it could be genetic, but the route to addiction/dependence is individual.

I guess in general children pick upon parental attitudes to such things. I have heard that a tendency to alcohol addiction can be inherited.

I think I probably have a slight to in built disapproval to alcohol use amongst the young. It is probably due to my Methodist upbringing.

Not to say though that I didn't get though a lot of alcohol in my early 20s.

I think Merlot is right about children "not really liking alcohol but wanting to keep up with their peers!" It should not be encouraged.

It is still an offence to give any alcohol to under fives and has been for over a century.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6598867.stm

I know from sad experience that the routes to alcoholism are many and varied. Parental abstinence, disapproval, tolerance, whatever don't make the slightest difference. As with all aspects of parenting, luck and a fair wind seem to be the order of the day. Those of us who thought we got it right were perhaps just blessed with more luck than others

upsydaisy - good questions.
From a report on comparative alcohol consumption in Europe (Oxford 2006):
There was considerable variation in levels of recorded per capita alcohol consumption among European countries. The highest recorded consumption was also found in eastern Europe (new EU member states): Czech Republic (12.9 l of pure alcohol per capita), followed by Slovakia (12.4 l) and Lithuania (12.3 l). The most preferred beverages of recorded consumption in these countries were beer and spirits. More spirits were consumed in Eastern countries compared to other countries, and binge drinking was more frequent in these countries as well.