Report shows that youth exposure to alcohol ads has skyrocketed

By Staff Writer

Youth exposure to alcohol advertising has significantly increased during the last decade, according to a new study.

The report - which was conducted by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - revealed that kids' exposure to alcohol ads on U.S. television increased by 71 percent between 2001 and 2009. The average number of ads seen by youth is about one per day.

The study's authors said that the rise of distilled spirits' advertising on cable television is driving the increase. Furthermore, commercials for alcoholic beverages were more likely to appear during cable programs targeted to viewers between the ages of 12 and 20 than on shows targeted to audiences over the age of 21.

David Jernigan, the director at CAMY, said that alcohol industry's self-regulation standards are failing. He suggested that policies should be tightened to protect youth from alcohol marketing.

The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 42 percent of high school students had consumed some amount of alcohol within 30 days of taking the survey.

Problem teens who abuse alcohol may benefit from boarding schools, which can provide the positive environment needed for adolescents to recover from destructive behaviors.