Television Ads May be Driving Kids to Drink

Seventh-graders who are exposed to alcohol ads on television – and who say they like the ads – may experience more severe problems related to drinking alcohol later in their adolescence, according to a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Researchers at the School of Community and Global Health at Claremont Graduate University in California hypothesized that “adolescents who like alcohol advertisements will be more likely to elaborate on the content of the ads (e.g., imagine themselves in the scene), and as a result, they will be more likely to be persuaded to try the product.”

The study concluded that, “Exposure to advertising was found to have a significant correlation with alcohol use, particularly among girls,” the study concludes. “Liking the ads was connected with alcohol-related problems (defined as not being able to do homework, getting into fights, neglecting responsibilities, or causing someone shame or embarrassment), particularly in boys. For both boys and girls, the more they were exposed to the ads and liked them, the more their alcohol use grew from seventh to 10th grade.” That, of course, leads to a greater potential for alcohol-related problems later on.

Source: CNN
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/29/tv-ads-may-be-driving-children-to-drink/