Three-Year-Old Alcoholic Treated In Hospital

Three-Year-Old Alcoholic Treated In Hospital

Monday March 14, 2011

David Crabtree, Sky correspondent

A three-year-old is been treated for alcoholism at an NHS hospital in the Midlands.


The toddler is one of a dozen children treated for alcohol abuse at the Trust


The child, who has not been named, is believed to be Britain's youngest alcoholic.

A further dozen children under 12 were diagnosed as alcoholics by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust between 2008 and 2010.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act also showed that the trust admitted more than 70 children aged 13-16 for emergency treatment for alcohol abuse.

The Trust, which runs hospitals in Birmingham, Solihull and Sutton Coldfield, said a further 106 teenagers aged 13 to 16 were treated for addiction to alcohol during the same period.


Under-age drinking in the UK needs to be tackled now more than ever.

Any child requiring hospital treatment for alcohol-related illness is a cause for great concern - not just because of the short-term risks associated with under-age drinking such as accidents, but also the long-term risks such as disrupted brain development.

Drinkaware, Chris Sorek
Health managers declined to give details of the toddler's condition due to patient confidentiality regulations.

A spokeswoman for the Trust said: "We treat alcohol abuse very seriously and have specialist teams and experts on hand who are there to treat young patients with alcohol-related problems.

"This enables us to provide the best possible care for our patients."

Commenting on drink-related admissions of children to hospitals, the chief executive of alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware, Chris Sorek, said: "Under-age drinking in the UK needs to be tackled now more than ever.

"Any child requiring hospital treatment for alcohol-related illness is a cause for great concern - not just because of the short-term risks associated with under-age drinking such as accidents, but also the long-term risks such as disrupted brain development."

I thought I was seeing this wrong when I read it. How on earth can a 3 year old be an alcoholic. This is beyone belief.

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE,HOW CAN THIS BE?

it would be interesting to know these kid's backgrounds.

Maybe the parents gave it to the child to put it asleep. Based on the age of the child you can imagine its background.