A QUARTER of Scottish boys start drinking when they are 11 and almost one in 10 admit to being drunk before they reach their teens, according to a new study.

The Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (Salsus), published by the Scottish executive, also revealed that one in five 15-year-olds, and about one in 10 13-year-olds who admitted drinking said they had tried drugs while under the influence of alcohol.

About a fifth of pupils who drank said they had been in trouble with the police. Vomiting, arguing and fighting were also commonly reported by pupils who had been drinking. A small number also ended up in hospital.

The study, carried out by researchers at Edinburgh University, questioned 7,000 13- and 15-year-olds, both boys and girls. It will be used by ministers to monitor trends and inform policy. Andy Kerr, the health minister, has produced a guide for parents on how best to talk to their children about alcohol and has funded an advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness of its dangers.

Tom Wood, chairman of the Edinburgh action team on alcohol and drugs, said the majority of alcohol obtained by very young people was acquired from the home.

“Over the last 25 years our relationship to alcohol has changed so much,” he said. “In my parents’ generation, there was a drinks cabinet in the house, which was usually locked. Now, if you went into a great number of houses, you would find alcohol in quite large quantities, wine racks full of drinks.”

It was not just a matter for law makers or teachers but those with have young people in their families, he said. “This is a giant wake-up call to the parental generation and to the older generation to say if we do not do something to both regulate and prevent young people getting alcohol then we are faced with a potential time-bomb. If people start to drink to excess in their teenage years the well known and well- established illnesses that are associated with heavy alcohol use will catch up with them a lot earlier.

“If my family were that age again I would be seriously thinking about placing alcoholic beverages out of temptation’s way.”

Shona Robison, the health spokeswoman for the SNP, said the figures confirmed concerns about the level of under-age drinking.

A Scottish executive report published last month revealed that drinking costs taxpayers £1.1 billion a year. Alcohol- related deaths have risen from fewer than one in 100 in 1980 to one in 30. Patients admitted to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses rose by 13% between 1997 and 2004. Two in five men and one in four women drink more than the daily recommended limit.

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