Efforts by alcoholic beverage makers to boost sales by appealing to younger drinkers contribute to drinking patterns that are harmful to health, said experts at a panel discussion on “Alcohol, Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases and Public Health,” held this week at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
While alcoholic beverage makers say their ads are aimed only at consumers who are at or over the legal purchase age, research shows that viewing of alcohol ads by under-age youths has increased by nearly 70 percent over the past decade, said David Jernigan, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In addition, some of the fastest-selling categories of alcoholic beverages—such as “alcopops,” alcohol energy drinks, and whipped cream alcohol drinks—are purchased disproportionately by younger drinkers. Some of these drinks contain the equivalent of as much as five servings of alcohol in a single can. At the same time, younger drinkers are much more likely than older drinkers to consume large quantities of alcohol over short periods of time, a pattern that significantly increases the risk of injuries and ill health effects.
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