Schools Secretary Ed Balls said it was wrong for family members to buy under-age children "four-packs" and send them out to get drunk with their friends.

He published a study warning that teenagers in the UK consume "extremely high" quantities of alcohol compared to children in other countries.

The minister's remarks followed a major survey by Ofsted last week, which found that one in five 10-15-year-olds regularly gets drunk.

Speaking as he launched a Government report on childhood, Mr Balls said: "If parents give 15-16-year-olds a four-pack to go off and have a drink, I think that's the wrong thing to do. I'm not sure we have said that enough as a society.

"Part of our problem with excessive drinking by teenagers is that a lot of the alcohol is bought by parents, family members and older friends.

"I don't think the right thing to do is to say no teenager should ever have a drink. It's part of a sensible approach to alcohol for teenagers from time to time to have a drink at home. But I do think it is wrong for teenagers to be helped to drink heavily and outside the home."

Police warn that many under-age children get their alcohol from parents and older siblings, he said.

The number of teenagers who drink alcohol has fallen recently, Mr Balls said. But he added: "Those young people who are drinking are drinking a lot more than they were."

The Government's report, Children and Young People Today, will form the basis of a new Children's Plan for the next 10 years to be published next month.