Exposure to alcohol at a young age is actually more likely to make them heavy or binge drinkers, he said.
Parents with a "laissez-faire" attitude to their teenager’s drinking are also putting their offspring at risk, he warned, as he called for a culture shift from the image of the drinker as a hero.
Sir Liam made his comments as he launched new guidelines on children’s drinking for parents, in which he called for youngsters to have an alcohol-free childhood.
Children under the age of 15 should not drink any alcohol at all, the report advises.
Older teenagers between 15 and 17 should be supervised by their parents if they are drinking, and should limit alcohol intake to one day a week.
Parents can set an good example by drink any alcohol at home only in a “positive" setting, such as a family meal, according to the guidelines.
Sir Liam said that the notion that introducing children to small amounts of alcohol at a young age would teach them to drink responsibly had become a “middle class obsession” in recent years.
“(That) if you somehow wean children on to alcohol at an early age they won't have any problems in later life, (that) they will be sensible – is not supported by evidence," he said.
"It's a bit of a middle-class obsession – the idea of taking out the wine bottle and diluting it.
"There's not a great problem to that as such but to extrapolate from that sort of situation that alcohol in general is a good thing just does not work.”
He added: "Alcohol has a ruinous effect on the foundations of adult life.
“We see the tyranny of alcohol on our towns and city centres.
“Too often childhood is robbed of its clear-eyed innocence and replaced with the befuddled futility that comes with the consumption of dirt cheap alcohol."
Evidence shows that children who are introduced to alcohol at a young age are more likely to binge drink as teenagers and to develop alcohol-related problems in later life.
Official figures show that half a million 11 to 15 year olds in England admit they have been drunk in the last month.
And every year around 7,600 11 to 17-year-olds are admitted to hospital because of alcohol.
Sir Liam warned that there was evidence that alcohol harmed children's’ developing brains.
Drinking can lead to depression, subtle brain damage, long-term memory problems, difficulty remembering words and mental health problems, he said.
Physical problems include damage to the liver, reduced levels of growth hormones and a lower bone density in boys.
In recent years doctors have warned that a binge-drinking culture is leading to young women in their twenties being diagnosed with alcohol-related conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver, unheard of a decade ago.
Sir Liam insisted that his report was merely advice and that there were no plans to change the law.
At the moment parents are legally allowed to give children alcohol in their own home from the age of five.
Sir Liam also reiterated his calls for a minimum price for a unit of alcohol as he said that to there was no doubt that Britain had a “drink problem”.
However, he admitted that there was not one single measure alone that could turn the tide on Britain's growing alcohol problem.
In January, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) will launch a campaign warning of the dangers of drinking among children and young people.
Don Shenker, the chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "Drinking among young people is a major concern for parents, many of whom have previously had no clear guidance on how to approach what can be a sensitive issue.
"The guidelines will especially help parents who want to establish clear boundaries with their children and clarify that drinking above these guidelines carries increased health risks.
"However, there are many more factors that influence young people's drinking than just what their parents say.
"The easy availability of alcohol at pocket money prices is far more important, and the government should consider getting tough on cheap sales to help tackle underage drinking". ( telegraph.co.uk )
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