04 January, 2006 04:46 GMT
Ads for alcoholic beverages do influence the amounts that young drinkers consume. New research counters industry claims that alcohol advertising merely causes brand switching and only affects those older than the legal drinking age.
A clear link has been found between ads for alcohol and increased drinking among teenagers, it was claimed today. Researchers say the findings explode the myth that advertising merely persuades young people to switch brands and makes no contribution to the amount they drink.
Investigators in the US interviewed more than 4,000 young people aged 15-26. They found that those who reported viewing more drink ads also consumed more alcohol.
Each additional advertisement viewed per month was associated with a 1% increase in the number of drinks consumed.
The same percentage increase applied both to adults and to young people under the legal US drinking age of 21.
Contributing Factor to Teenage Drinking
Information was also obtained on total alcohol sales and the amount spent on drink in different markets.
A link was found between markets with high advertising expenditures of $10 or more per person per month and increased drinking over time. In these markets, young people reached a peak of 50 drinks per month by the age of 25.
The researchers, led by Dr. Leslie Snyder, from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, wrote in the
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, "The results ... contradict claims that advertising is unrelated to young drinking amounts; that advertising at best causes brand switching, only affects those older than the legal drinking age, or is effectively countered by current educational efforts.
"Alcohol advertising was a contributing factor to youth drinking quantities over time."
Industry's Claim Challenged
A spokesman for the Portman Group, the drinks industry-funded body which promotes responsible drinking, pointed out that restrictions on alcohol ads were not the same in the US and UK.
He said, "The advertising of alcohol in the UK is subject to very strict regulation to ensure that it doesn't appeal to under-18s."
Dr. David Jernigan, from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University, Washington DC, said the research called into question the alcohol industry's claim that advertising has no impact on underage drinking.
|
Home 
Children's Health 
