Alcohol consumption is higher among left-behind Chinese children whose parents leave rural areas to work

Over the past few decades, a large number of rural residents have migrated to cities in China and left their children behind. This study estimated how many 10- to 14-year-old children in rural Anhui drank alcohol and examined the association between parental migration and children's alcohol use.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in six cities in Anhui between July and August 2012. All participants had lived in the study villages for at least six months during the previous year and were interviewed face-to-face using a standardised questionnaire.

More than half (57%) of the 1367 subjects were left-behind children, 43% lived with both parents and 9.6% currently drank alcohol. When we controlled for other variables, the rate of alcohol use was statistically higher among left-behind children if both parents had migrated (14.0%) than among children living with both parents (7.8%) (p = 0.002). Boys, children with siblings and those with a poorer academic performance were more likely to drink.

Children in rural China were more likely to drink if both their parents had migrated in search of work. School-based interventions could help to reduce alcohol use among rural left-behind children, especially boys.