About 40 percent of children ages 8 to 10 have tried alcohol, often without the knowledge of their parents, according to a new study. 

HealthDay News reported Jan. 4 that most of the children said they had only tasted alcohol, not consumed an entire drink. But about one-third of parents whose children reported alcohol use had no idea they had done so.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Michigan surveyed 452 children and their families via telephone.

"If one only asked about drinks, one would have the impression that few children at these ages have had experience with alcohol, whereas the reality is that nearly seven times as many have had some experience," said researcher John Donovan of the University of Pittsburgh. "Second, alcohol is most often sipped by children in the family context or during religious services, and almost never with friends or when alone. Third, children in families in which the parents drink are at greater risk for having sipped or tasted alcohol as young as age eight or 10."

However, the researchers said that sipping alcohol at a young age did not appear to be associated with any other problem behaviors.

The study was published in the January 2008 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.