Study finds alcohol ads boost youth drinking

CHICAGO - Young adults as well as teenagers drink more under the influence of alcohol advertising, researchers said this week.

A survey of young people aged 15 to 26 found that for each additional alcohol advertisement viewed per month, there was a 1 per cent rise in the average number of drinks consumed, said study author Leslie Snyder of the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

The study's findings counter industry arguments that only adult drinkers heed alcohol advertising, Snyder wrote in the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

In the study the researchers conducted four rounds of interviews between 1999 and 2001 with a group of young people, with the initial 1872 subjects selected randomly.

Another finding was that for each extra dollar spent per capita on alcohol advertising in a particular media market, study participants drank 3 per cent more per month.

In markets with heavy alcohol advertising of more than $10 ($14.83) per capita per month, alcohol consumption increased over time and reached a peak of 50 drinks per month by age 25. The study measured advertising exposure on television, radio, magazines and billboards.

"The results also contradict claims that advertising is unrelated to youth 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," Snyder wrote.

- REUTERS