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Current controls on alcohol marketing are not protecting youth

11. 1. 2017 | Mosa | news

In the latest supplement to the Addiction journal 14 peer-reviewed papers presenting the latest evidence on alcohol marketing and its impact on children were published. Key findings include:

• Exposure to alcohol marketing is associated with youth alcohol consumption

• Analysis of alcohol promotion during the 2014 FIFA World Cup indicates alcohol marketing practices frequently appeared to breach industry voluntary codes of practice’ 

• Alcohol industry self-regulatory codes do not sufficiently protect children and adolescents from exposure to alcohol promotions, especially through social media

Leading public health experts warn that youth around the world are exposed to extensive alcohol marketing, and that current controls on that marketing appear ineffective in blocking the association between youth exposure and subsequent drinking.  The experts call for governments around the world to renew their efforts to address the problem by strengthening the rules governing alcohol marketing with more effective independent statutory regulations. The papers offer guidelines to developing more effective alcohol marketing regulations:

• The most effective response to alcohol marketing is likely to be a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship, in accordance with each country’s constitution or constitutional principles. 

• Regulations should be statutory, and enforced by an appropriate public health agency of the local or national government, not by the alcohol industry. 

• Regulations should be independent of the alcohol industry, whose primary interest lies in growing its markets and maximizing profits. 

• A global agreement on the marketing of alcoholic beverages would support country efforts to move towards a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship. 

• Collaboration with other population-level efforts to restrict marketing of potentially harmful products, such as ultra-processed food, sugary beverages, tobacco, and breast-milk substitutes, should be encouraged and supported. 

Lead editor Professor Thomas Babor, of the University of Connecticut, says:
“Governments are responsible for the health of their citizens.  No other legal product with such potential for harm is as widely promoted and advertised in the world as alcohol. These papers provide a wealth of information to support governments in their efforts to protect children and other vulnerable populations from exposure to alcohol marketing.”

Source: http://addictionjournal.org/press-releases/current-controls-on-alcohol-marketing-are-not-protecting-youth-warn-public-heal

The Addiction supplement, Alcohol marketing regulation: From research to public policy, is free to download from the Wiley Online Library: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.v112.S1/issuetoc

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