Attention! Don't boost kids to 'sip' alcohol

By ninth grade, 26 per cent of those early "sippers" said they had a full alcoholic drink, versus less than 6 per cent of their peers. As many as 9 per cent had either gotten drunk or binged-compared with just under 2 per cent of "nonsippers." There are many factors that influence underage drinking, Jackson noted. Her team tried to account for as many of those factors as they could - including parents' drinking habits and any history of alcoholism, as well as kids' disposition (such as whether they tended to be impulsive and risk taking in general). Even then, Jackson said, there was still a connection between early sipping and risky drinking by high school.