Seven out of ten French adults see “no problem with letting minors drink” alcohol during the holiday period, a figure revealed by an OpinionWay survey.
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In a survey carried out by OpinionWay, for the League against Cancer on the occasion of Dry January or January Challenge, “70% of French adults“do not see”no problem letting minors consume alcohol“on the occasion of the end-of-year holidays. They are also”30% estimate that it is possible to serve alcohol to adolescents under 15 years old“.
“Parents are also less sensitive to the risk factor ‘alcohol’ than the rest of the population according to this survey, 1 in 2 parents believe that it is not serious if a minor tastes alcohol during the holidays“, compared to 46% of French people. 44% of parents also consider that “drinking alcohol in front of minors has no effect on their consumption” compared to 41% of French people.
“A good time” to introduce young people to alcohol
For 35% of French people and 38% of parents of children under 18, “drinking alcohol before reaching the age of majority does not influence alcohol consumption in adulthood“. According to this same study, almost a third of French people (32%) think that “the holidays are a good time to introduce children to alcohol for the first time“. 41% think that “exceptionally giving teenagers a drink has no consequences“.
A figure that makes Doctor Emmanuel Ricard, spokesperson for the League against Cancer, react at the microphone of France Inter: “We know that the earlier we start, the more there is a habit of the brain and an appetite, that is to say a desire to return which will be important. And the earlier we start, the greater the effects of alcohol, since the organs are not finished, they are under construction.“.
First glass of beer, or wine, consumed around 17 years old
The average age considered acceptable for giving minors a taste of alcohol for the first time differs depending on the drink. It is 15 years for cider, 16 years for champagne, beer and wine and 17 years for strong alcohols, according to the OpinionWay study.
Other figures from this study, more than half (53%) of French people plan to “lower the alcohol budget due to inflation”, but almost 4 in 10 French people (39%) consider alcohol consumption for end of year celebrations like “essential“.
“It’s a public health problem”
Emmanuel Ricard, spokesperson for the League Against Cancerat France Inter
“Alcohol is the second leading cause of cancer in France. Alcohol is among the leading causes of hospitalization in France, the leading cause of emergency room consultations… At a time when we say that emergency rooms are congested, at a time when we say that patients can no longer access them , you have to wake up!” protests Emmanuel Ricard.
In this study, the League against Cancer recalls that alcohol is the second preventable risk factor for cancer, causing 28,000 new cases each year. “Our country has always had an ambiguous position regarding alcohol“, denounces Daniel Nizri, the president of the League against Cancer. “The paradoxes of prevention messages and messages sent by public authorities who often only act with moderation, have a very clear consequence: if the French, and especially parents, are aware of the need to reduce consumption of alcohol and ban it for the youngest, they often trivialize their own consumption and that of their children“.
OpinionWay survey methodology
Sample of 1,225 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over. An oversample was carried out to obtain a total of 528 parents of children under 18 years old. The sample was constituted using the quota method, taking into account the criteria of age, socio-professional category, urban area category and region of residence. The sample was interviewed by self-administered online questionnaire using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) system. The interviews were conducted from December 12 to 14, 2023.