“While many factors may influence an underage person’s drinking decisions, including among other things parents, peers and media, there is reason to believe that advertising also plays a role.” (Federal Trade Commission, Self Regulation in the Alcohol Industry, 1999)¹

Parents and peers have a large impact on youth decisions to drink. However, research clearly indicates that alcohol advertising and marketing also have a significant impact, and that they influence the attitudes of parents and peers and help create an environment that promotes underage drinking.

• A study of 12 year-olds found that children who were more aware of beer advertising held more favorable views on drinking and expressed an intention to drink more often as adults than did children who were less knowledgeable about the ads.²

• A federally-funded study of 1,000 young people found that exposure to and liking of alcohol advertisements affects whether young people will drink alcohol.³

• A 1996 study of children ages nine to eleven found that children were more familiar with Budweiser’s television frogs than Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, or Smokey the Bear.⁴

• A USA Today survey found that teens say ads have a greater influence on their desire to drink in general than on their desire to buy a particular brand of alcohol.⁵

• Eighty percent of general public respondents in a poll by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms believed “that alcohol advertising influences youth to drink alcoholic beverages.”⁶ Another poll, done for an alcohol industry organization called the Century Council, found that 73 percent of the public believes that “alcohol advertising is a major contributor to underage drinking.”⁷

• The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) recognizes the influence advertising can have on youth: “[T]he impact of advertising on radio and television audiences, particularly kids, cannot be overstated. Clever jingles, flashy lights, fast talking, and quick pacing, all contribute to the message of commercials.”⁸

• $1.57 billion was spent on alcohol advertising in measured media (television, radio, print, and outdoor advertising) in 2001.⁹ The FTC estimated in 1999 that the alcohol industry may spend two to three times this amount each year to promote their products, through sponsorship, internet advertising, point-of-sale materials, product placement, brand-logoed items, and other means. This would mean that the alcohol industry spent at least $3 billion on advertising and promotion in 2001.¹⁰

¹ Federal Trade Commission. (September 1999). Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry: A Review of Industry Efforts to Avoid Promoting Alcohol to Underage Consumers: 4.
² Grube, J.W. (1995). “Television alcohol portrayals, alcohol advertising and alcohol expectancies among children and adolescents.” Effects of the Mass Media on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol. S.E. Martin and P. Mail. Bethesda: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 105-121.
³ Grube, J. “Alcohol advertising–a study of children and adolescents: preliminary results.”
⁴ Leiber, L. Commercial and character slogan recall by children aged 9 to 11 years: Budweiser frogs versus Bugs Bunny. Berkeley: Center on Alcohol Advertising, 1996.
⁵ Horovitz, B., M. Wells. “Ads for adult vices big hit with teens.” USA Today (31 January 1997): News 1A.
⁶ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. (December 1988). Executive Summary of Findings of Research Study of the Public Opinion Concerning Warning Labels on Containers of Alcoholic Beverages: 14.
⁷ Century Council. “Poll shows many people believe industry encourages teen drinking.” Alcohol Issues Insights 8(8): 3 August 1991.
⁸ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. (October 1991). Youth and Alcohol: Controlling Alcohol Advertising that Appeals to Youth: 2.
⁹ Competitive Media Reporting. Stradegy. Database. (June 2002).
¹⁰ Federal Trade Commission. (September 1999). Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry: A Review of Industry Efforts to Avoid Promoting Alcohol to Underage Consumers: Appendix B: i-ii.

 Fact sheet from CAMY
 

Drinking Underage Maims the Brain-American Medical Association Underage Drinking is a D.U.M.B. Decision  (Drinking Underage Maims the Brain)  Fact Sheet from an American Medical Association Report on Alcohol’s Adverse Effects on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students

What is the summary report?

Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents, and College Students is a compilation and summary of two decades of comprehensive research on how alcohol affects the brains of youth. The report’s aggregation of extensive scientific and medical information reveals just how harmful drinking is to the developing brain and serves as a wakeup call to parents, physicians, elected officials, law enforcement, purveyors of alcohol – including the alcohol industry – and young drinkers themselves.

Why is this report important?
The average age of a child’s first drink is now 12,1 and nearly 20 percent of 12 to 20 year-olds are considered binge drinkers.2 While many believe that underage drinking is an inevitable "rite of passage" that adolescents can easily recover from because their bodies are more resilient, the opposite is true.

The Adolescent Brain The brain goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes. Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue until age 16, and a high rate of energy is used as the brain matures until age 20. Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible.3 In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Adolescents need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.4

Adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence Alcohol affects the sleep cycle, resulting in impaired learning and memory as well as disrupted release of hormones necessary for growth and maturation8 Alcohol use increases risk of stroke among young drinkers9

Adverse Effects of Alcohol on the Brain: Research Findings Youth who drink can have a significant reduction in learning and memory, and teen alcohol users are most susceptible to damaging two key brain areas that are undergoing dramatic changes in adolescence:

• The hippocampus handles many types of memory and learning and suffers from the worst alcohol-related brain damage in teens. Those who had been drinking more and for longer had significantly smaller hippocampus (10 percent).10

• The prefrontal area (behind the forehead) undergoes the most change during adolescence. Researchers found that adolescent drinking could cause severe changes in this area and others, which play an important role in forming adult personality and behavior and is often called the CEO of the brain.11

Lasting Implications Compared to students who drink moderately or not at all, frequent drinkers may never be able to catch up in adulthood, since alcohol inhibits systems crucial for storing new information as long-termmemories and makes it difficult to immediately remember what was just learned. Additionally, those who binge once a week or increase their drinking from age 18 to 24 may have problems attaining the goals of young adulthood—marriage, educational attainment, employment, and financial independence.12 And rather than "outgrowing" alcohol use, young abusers are significantly more likely to have drinking problems as adults.13

What can be done to stop this epidemic?
 The AMA advocates numerous ways to combat this growing epidemic, including:

• Reducing access to alcohol for children and youth

• Reducing sales and provision of alcohol to children and youth

• Increasing enforcement of underage drinking laws

• Providing more education about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse

• Reducing the demand for alcohol and the normalization of alcohol use by children and youth

A major source of the normalization of alcohol use by children and youth is alcohol advertising. Television networks and cable stations have profited tremendously from the alcohol industry's aggressive marketing to underage drinkers. These ads are proven to heavily influence the normalization and glamorization of drinking in the minds of children, and television has continued to endanger the health of these young viewers in spite of such findings.

With these new findings of the adverse effects of alcohol on the brain of children and adolescents, the AMA calls on cable TV and the TV networks to pledge not to run alcohol ads targeted at underage youth. This means no alcohol ads before 10 p.m., none on shows with 15percent or more underage viewers and no commercials with cartoons, mascots or other youth focused images.

What can I do?
Please visit our Web site, www.alcoholpolicysolutions.net to learn 10 things you can do to combat underage drinking as well as to send an e-mail or a fax to the TV networks and cable TV about your concerns about advertising alcohol to youth.

Download the PDF Version
 AMA Report on harm to the Brain of Youth who drink alcohol.

Did you know?

100,000 Americans Die each year as a result of alcohol, yet there is not a single warning label to identify risk for those who have a family history or heavy environmental exposure known to increase for problems with alcohol consumption.