Is it okay to drink alcohol at 16?

I'd advise against drinking before age 18 not only because it's illegal in most countries, it can affect brain growth. The human brain does not stop developing until your mid-20s. The reason why most countries set the minimum legal drinking age at 18 or 19 is that your frontal lobe and parietal cortex should be complete around 18 or 19 years old so your brain should be strong enough to fight off any harm brought by the alcohol. The United States has the strictest drinking age of all, which is 21, because of drunk driving fatalities.