The average teenager sees about 200 ads for alcohol on television each year. According to a new UCLA study ads for beer, liquor and alcopops are more likely to be aired on cable television when teens are watching.

Dr. Paul Chung, a professor of pediatrics, and his research team studied more than 600,000 ads on cable television. The researchers found that more ads were shown on shows that had a higher percentage of young watchers between the ages of 12 and 20 years old.

"The study did not examine whether alcohol and advertisers are intentionally over-exposing adolescents," Dr. Chung said. "The alcohol industry has consistently denied actively targeting teenagers, and our study was not designed to test that claim. However, the ultimate effect of their advertising strategies, intentional or not, appears to be greater exposure than might be expected if adults were the targets of ads."

The UCLA study appeared in the American Journal of Public Health.

Labels: teens, advertising, television

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A new study by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health indicated that the advertisement of alcohol in primarily African-American areas of New York City may be exacerbating problem drinking behaviors among young residents.

Earlier studies have shown that predominantly African-American neighborhoods have a disproportionate number of outdoor alcohol advertisements, such as billboards; however, before this study, the impact of this pattern was unclear.

The study, published online by the American Journal of Public Health, monitored 139 African-American participants, ages 21 to 49, who resided in Central Harlem. Approximately 31 percent were reported to be problem drinkers. The study showed that problem drinking behaviors were linked to both alcohol advertising and a family history of alcoholism.

Principal investigator of the study and assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Naa Oyo Kwate, commented on one interesting finding:

"We found that, on average, exposure to each alcohol ad in a woman's residential block was associated with a 13 percent increase in the odds of being a problem drinker."

(Sources: www.sciencedaily.com)

Labels: alcoholism, advertising

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

Sixth and seventh graders who view high numbers of advertisements for alcoholic beverages are 50% more likely to drink and 36% more likely to decide to drink than peers who do not view such materials.

Liquor and beer advertisements appear on television, radio and the Internet, in magazines and in-store promotions, and as promotional items like t-shirts and posters. The study by the Rand Corporation concluded that adolescents see about 250 television ads every year, and that even fourth graders are familiar with brand names and slogans.

This study appears in the June 2007 Journal of Adolescent Health.

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Labels: alcohol, media_influences, advertising

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments