World's youngest alcoholic

World's youngest alcoholic: Outrage as China treats two-year-old who downs bottles of wine and beer in minutes

• Cheng Cheng, known as 'Little Winebibber', shuns milk for alcohol
• First tasted wine on father's chopsticks aged just 10 months
• Now screams for bottles of alcohol, drinks pints faster than his parents
• By MIA DE GRAAF

PUBLISHED: 10:45 GMT, 24 June 2014 

Authorities in China are dealing with what is believed to be the country's youngest alcoholic - a boy aged just two years old.

Cheng Cheng first tried wine at 10 months, and downed his first bottle of beer before the age of one.

Now, the toddler in eastern China's Anhui province screams for alcohol as his parents struggle to move him onto milk and soft drinks.

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Outrage: Two-year-old Cheng Cheng screams for bottles of wine and refuses milk or soft drinks

His habit has sparked outrage in local media, with doctors urging his parents to take immediate action to prevent life-threatening damage to his organs.

Social services are this week debating whether to place him in care.

 

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But incredibly, his parents and relatives have joked about Cheng Cheng's taste for alcohol.

It started when he was a baby and his father gave him a drop of wine to stop him crying, reports claim.

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Habit: Doctors and social services are meeting to discuss the child's future as his parents insist they cannot do anything to ween him off alcohol

Not yet in school, the little boy can now allegedly drink up a whole bottle of beer without any noticeable effects.

His aunt Cai Teng said: 'At that time, all of us in the family have already thought that this child can really drink a lot when he grows up.'

Whenever his family takes out bottles of alcohol, he demands to drink some, she explained.

His mother, fearing that she and her husband could face legal consequences over their questionable parenting, has reportedly tried to get him to swap booze for milk, juice or other drinks.

But she said: 'His eyes are always on the alcohol bottles. We can only try their best to store the bottles in a place which in not seen by him.'

Cai said that during big festivals Cheng Cheng would cry for alcohol when he saw relatives and friends drinking.

She said: 'As sometimes he is really noisy, we have no options but let him to try a little bit of wine.'

A few days ago, Cheng Cheng's father shared a bottle of beer with Cheng Cheng who downed it in minutes.

Cai said that Cheng Cheng's ability to handle alcohol has made the family both surprised and worried.

'We will not let him drink or touch alcohol anymore as we afraid that it will affect his growth,' she added.

Pediatricians in mainland China said that the body and organs in children at this age are not well-developed. A little bit of alcohol can easily harm their health.