Around half and a third of surveyed adults in Great Britain (GB) thought it was acceptable for young people to drink zero-alcohol and low alcohol drinks respectively, with the rest remaining unsure or finding it unacceptable. Most parents interviewed viewed adolescent use of no/lows as broadly acceptable.
Despite this, no/low drink use was low in GB among young adults and adolescents. Only around 15% of 16-25-year-olds consumed them in the last month in 2022-2025, and few interviewed adolescents reported either use or interest in use. Largely, adolescents and primary carers felt that no/lows were irrelevant to adolescents. No/lows were viewed as an alternative to alcohol for adults who were choosing not to drink alcohol.
Judgements around the acceptability of adolescent use of no/lows were dependent on context. In the survey, for both alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks, family settings were considered the most acceptable (64% and 56% respectively) and settings with friends were considered the least acceptable (44% and 28% respectively). Primary carers who provided their adolescent children with no/low drinks tended to report doing so within the family home or at family events or meals.
There was no evidence of a no/low gateway effect. Young adults who drank no/lows first did not report significantly lower ages at which they first consumed alcohol or greater alcohol consumption. However, there was not convincing evidence that no/lows have public health benefits either; young people first drinking no/lows did not report significantly delayed age of initiation for alcohol or less alcohol consumed. Young people reporting first drinking no/lows also reported delays in first drunkenness, though these findings were uncertain.
