Key Points
- Actor Kristen Bell lets her children drink non-alcoholic beer at home.
- The Frozen star said her daughters have even ordered non-alcoholic beer at restaurants.
- Paediatricians warn letting children drink non-alcoholic beers could normalise drinking.
Actor Kristen Bell has caused a stir after discussing her children's drinking habits.
In an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show this week, the star of Frozen and Veronica Mars said she lets her daughters, nine-year-old Lincoln and eight-year-old Delta, consume non-alcoholic beer.
The 43-year-old said while the parenting choice might sound "insane", "context is important".
Bell said when she and her husband, Dax Shepard - who has previously experienced addiction - would take their daughters for a night-time walk when they were younger, he would often have a non-alcoholic beer with him.
"He'd have one open, he'd have her (Lincoln) on his chest and we'd walk and, like, look at the sunset," she said.
"As a baby, she was, like, pawing at it, and sometimes she would, like, suck on the rim of it, so I think it feels to her like something special, something daddy, something family.
"We've been at restaurants where she's said, 'Do you have any non-alcoholic beer?'
"I'm like, 'Maybe we just keep that for home.'"
While Bell said the beers her daughters drink have no alcohol in them, they can legally contain up to 0.5 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume) — similar to a very ripe banana.
"You can judge me if you want, I'm not doing anything wrong. That's your problem," she said.
Much of the reaction on social media was critical of Bell and Shepard's decision.
"Kristen Bell doesn't seem to understand that by their children even drinking a non-alcoholic beer, they could be passing his or both addiction on to their daughters at a young age," one Twitter user wrote.
Others said they didn't see the issue, suggesting non-alcoholic beer was "no different to soda".
Dax Shepard (left), Kristen Bell's husband and the father of her children, has experienced addiction issues. Source: Getty / Jason Bollenbacher
"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just essentially a bubbly juice. Right? There's nothing in it," she said on an episode of the Say Yes! with Carla Hall podcast.
"If anything, it opens up the discussion for why Daddy has to drink non-alcoholic beer, because some people lose their privileges with drinking. Drinking's not always safe."
What do doctors think about children drinking non-alcoholic beer?
Paediatricians warn that letting your children have non-alcoholic beverages could normalise drinking and increase their interest in it.
"[If] we plant the seed in young minds that beer drinking is okay, it may lead to beer drinking at a young age," Dr Chloe Campbell, a paediatrician at Massachusetts's Salem Hospital in the United States, told news publication Insider.
"Maybe a kid will say, 'Let me try [their mother's] beer' when parents are out of sight.
"Non-alcoholic beer will not kill a child, but a child mistaking alcoholic beer for one they thought was zero alcohol can lead to dangerous consequences."
Marc Auerbach, a paediatric emergency medicine specialist at Yale University School of Medicine, said the short-term health risks of drinking non-alcoholic beer were low.
"The consumption of non-alcoholic drinks is unlikely to lead to intoxication or toxicity in school-age children," he told Insider.
"But the long-term danger is quite concerning."
Auerbach said that given both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of substance use disorder, consuming non-alcoholic drinks could be especially risky for children whose family members have addiction issues.
One thing that might be a protective factor in children of addicts developing the disorder is speaking openly about it.
"Family bonding and open discussion about drugs and alcohol or addiction with children can protect against future use," Auerbach said.
"When kids feel comfortable communicating with parents and asking questions, we can better educate them.
"This is especially complex when a parent is a recovering addict."
