What we Brits can learn from French families who put champagne on babies’ lips: A sip of wine can turn children into alcoholics like parents across the Channel, a study warns

Shut up! Killjoy scientists have raised a very disturbing alarm. Children who get even a sip of alcohol from their parents when they are young are more likely to be plagued by addiction later in life, says a new study.

Researchers at the US Uniformed Services University in Maryland warn that regularly tasting parents’ wine or beer at dinner creates “positive alcohol expectancies” in children.

Meanwhile, the NHS says alcohol should only be drunk from the age of 15.

Well, as a British expat living near Montpellier for the past 12 years, I can tell you that my French friends will have a lot to say about this.

When I was elected to our city council eight years ago, I received an unusual gift: a bottle of wine made by children from our local elementary school.

But as I soon found out, that shouldn’t surprise me at all.

Here, in the heart of the wine country, octogenarians are given a cutter every fall. They are then accompanied to the school’s vineyard, right next to the football field, to harvest the grapes under the watchful eye of their teachers. Younger students design labels for the bottles.

inappropriate? Rare. Alcohol and wine in particular have a proud and long history in France – and one that has always involved young people.

In fact, serving wine to children in school canteens was only banned in 1956 – a move condemned at the time as a crime against French culture.

Today, as in the UK, the legal drinking age is 18, while 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to drink it in restaurants, but only when accompanied by a responsible adult.

But generally it is much more relaxed here in France than on the other side of the Channel.

For example, it is traditional for families to celebrate the birth of a child with a bottle of champagne and ritually anoint the baby’s lips with a squirt. (Literally a baptism by alcohol.)

Then, from childhood, “Eau Rougie” – water colored red by the wine – is served during dinner. Starting with just a small drop, the wine to water ratio gradually increases as children get older. In the teenage years it is not unusual to be allowed a small glass of good wine.

inappropriate? Rare. Alcohol and wine in particular have a proud and long history in France – and one that has always involved young people. In fact, serving wine to children in school canteens was only banned in 1956 – a move condemned at the time as a crime against French culture

Especially since I will be visiting the neighbors for several Christmas parties in the coming weeks, I expect that alcohol will be mandatory for all attendees. It would be almost sacrilegious not to participate.

Why? Because introducing young people to the rich traditions of France – of delicious cheese, bread and even better wines – is an essential part. But it also has other advantages.

A more relaxed approach teaches children to drink responsibly and in moderation. It demystifies alcohol, meaning that when children inevitably reach the age where they want to go out with friends, they won’t feel the need to drink too much and develop the binge eating behaviors that can lead to alcoholism.

It wasn’t so different in the UK a few decades ago – before the obsessive health and safety maniacs took over.

When I was at boarding school in Hampshire, my friends and I would often sneak into the local pub after class for a pint of shandy or maybe a weak cider (if you were lucky).

The older boys took care of the younger ones and made sure they didn’t have too much. And as long as you kept your head and didn’t make a fool of yourself, the innkeepers and teachers turned a blind eye. According to them, becoming young men was part of our education.

But things have changed dramatically since then. And as the power of Britain’s nanny state grew, alcohol consumption became increasingly regulated. So much so that especially young 18-year-olds can earn a healthy income by working as an “undercover shopper” and snooping around any business that doesn’t require ID to buy alcohol.

Bartenders across the country now break out in a cold sweat at the approach of anyone who looks a day under 30 – and in many schools, illegal drinking is a criminal offence.

But what is the result of this cultural change?

For example, it is traditional for families to celebrate the birth of a child with a bottle of champagne and ritually anoint the baby’s lips with a squirt. (literally a baptism by alcohol)

A quick comparison of a Saturday night in the UK and France will give you the answer. In the capital of the world, Blighty, drunks terrorize the streets until the early hours of the morning, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

You won’t find anything like this in France. Young and old enjoy civilized dinners by candlelight before winding their way home along the cobbled sidewalks at appropriate times.

The data tells a similar story. A 2019 global survey found that Britons are more drunk than any other country in the world. The UK is also second (after Australia) for the number of people seeking emergency treatment after drinking.

While the amount of alcohol consumed per capita is quite similar in France and England, people on the Continent suffer from far fewer long-term health problems.

Since the 1970s, deaths from liver disease have quadrupled in the UK. During the same period, France recorded a decrease in such deaths.

Much of this will be due to the stark difference between British and French “drinking culture”. While many Brits go to the pub with the express intention of going to the pub, alcohol is primarily associated with food.

Dirty British pubs and clubs are a world away from posh French cafes.

Much of British drinking also revolves around beer. While the French tend to drink more wine, it is enjoyed more slowly due to its higher alcohol content. (And where beer is consumed, it is usually served as “demi”, roughly half a pint.)

Now, of course, it would be naive to assume that France is completely immune to alcoholism.

But as someone who has spent a lot of time in both countries, I think it is certainly true that French youth are not as obsessed with alcohol as their British counterparts.

So before health and safety professionals absorb the latest research and impose yet more regulations, perhaps they could learn a thing or two from the French example.

Alcohol is one of life’s great pleasures – French wine may be the greatest. And children are not stupid; they know a good thing when they see it. We also all know that the American prohibition of the 1920s did not work – just as the preaching of abstinence never stopped young people from having sex.

So instead of telling kids to never drink anything, let’s help them learn how to drink responsibly. This seems to me the best way to reduce alcoholism – and I’m sure we can all look forward to it!

Jonathan Miller is the author of France, a Nation on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Gibson Square).