Parenting Teens - Alcohol Guidelines

Key points about alcohol guidelines

• it is best not to supply alcohol to young people under 18 
• it's not the amount of liquid you are drinking that's important – it's the amount of alcohol it contains
• it takes our bodies at least 1 hour - and sometimes much longer - to remove 1 standard drink from our bodies
• drinking alcohol has both immediate and long-term health effects

What is a standard drink?

It's not the amount of liquid you are drinking that's important – it's the amount of alcohol it contains.

The standard drinks measure is a simple way for you to work out how much alcohol you are drinking. It reflects the amount of pure alcohol in a drink. One standard drink equals 10 grams of pure alcohol (approximately 2 teaspoons).

It's not the amount of liquid you are drinking that's important – it's the amount of alcohol it contains. As different types of alcoholic drinks have different amounts of alcohol in them, the number of standard drinks in each can, bottle or cask, will also vary.

It takes our bodies at least 1 hour - and sometimes much longer - to remove 1 standard drink from our bodies. Women absorb and metabolise alcohol differently than men. They have higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) after consuming the same amount of alcohol as men, and are more at risk of alcoholic liver disease, heart muscle damage¹ , and brain damage.²

See the Health Promotion Agency's 'Guide to standard drinks (PDF 418KB)'. You'll find the standard drinks content on the label, container or packaging of each drink.

What are some ways to lower the risks of drinking alcohol?

Drinking alcohol has both immediate and long-term health effects. Because people are different – there is no amount of alcohol that can be said to be safe for everyone. Low-risk drinking guidelines reflect the harms that might arise from single drinking occasions (where there is a risk of injury to self or others) and from the long-term health consequences of regular drinking (such as increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver disease and addiction problems).

Current long-term drinking guidelines³ to lower your risk advise:

For young people

Not drinking is the safest option for young people under 18 years of age.

• it is best not to supply alcohol to young people under 18
• try to delay drinking for as long as possible
• if under 18 year olds do drink, they should always be supervised, drink infrequently and at levels usually below and never exceeding 2 standard drinks

For adults

• 2 standard drinks a day for women and no more than 10 standard drinks a week
• 3 standard drinks a day for men and no more than 15 standard drinks a week

Related information on this website

Parenting teens: Alcohol facts
Parenting teens: Alcohol and young people

See more KidsHealth content on parenting teens

Check out KidsHealth's section on parenting teens