Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson has stressed that parents who have an open attitude toward their children drinking alcohol are putting them at risk of developing alcohol related problems later in life, and middle class families who think it is alright to dilute their children's wine are also misinformed.

According to Sir Donaldson, parents should avoid exposing children and youngsters to "alcohol-fueled environments or family events where drinking is the central activity". They could, however, show their kids that if alcohol is consumed at home, it should be in a "positive setting such as a family meal".

"The idea that if you somehow wean children on to alcohol at an early age they won't have any problems in later life, they will be sensible, is not supported by evidence. The more they get a taste for it, the more likely they are to be heavy drinking adults or binge drinkers later in childhood. It's a bit of a middle-class obsession - the idea of taking out the wine bottle and diluting it. There's not a great problem to that as such but to extrapolate from that sort of situation that alcohol in general is a good thing just does not work. It's not supported by evidence", said Sir Liam.

The thoughts were shared by the CMO as he published a report which says that parents should ensure that "under-15s should have an alcohol free childhood".