Trade blamed for 'binge' rise among children

Related tags Alcoholic beverage Drinking culture

Deliberate ploy to target schoolchildren, says academicDrinks companies have been accused of "deliberately targeting" children in a bid to recruit...

Deliberate ploy to target schoolchildren, says academic

Drinks companies have been accused of "deliberately targeting" children in a bid to recruit them to brands.

According to consultant psychiatrist and UK academic Dr Bruce Ritson, the use of slick advertising is prompting young people to drink from an earlier age and, as a result, drunkenness among school-age children is commonplace. Dr Ritson also described a rise in the number of young girls drinking alcohol.

Speaking at a conference in the Republic of Ireland earlier this month, he described recent trends in underage drinking as "particularly disturbing".

Dr Ritson, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University who also heads the alcohol problem service at the city's Royal Hospital, said drinks companies must shoulder much of the blame for what was happening.

"The use of slick, lifestyle-focused advertising, plus the promotion of flavoured alcohol and café and club bars, are deliberate ploys to win young, image-conscious drinkers over to alcohol," he said.

"There is clear evidence that the alcohol industry has two target groups - starter groups aged 11-15 and established drinkers aged 16-24. Both of these markets are large enough to provide the industry with a sustainable return on investment - the flavoured alcoholic beverages market in Britain, for instance, was worth £750m in 1998 - and both are being deliberately targeted."

The conference was organised by the Irish College of General Practitioners in response to a worrying rise in alcohol-related street violence among the country's youth, mirroring a similar trend in Britain.

Another speaker, conference organiser Dr Rolande Anderson, warned of a possible "epidemic of alcoholism" over the next two decades if youth drinking is not tackled.

In an initiative aimed at students, Irish health minister Michael Martin is urging a crackdown on drinks company involvement in higher education. A policy document calls for strict regulation of drinks advertising on campus plus an extensive alcohol awareness campaign.

"This is not a spoilsports' charter," insisted Mr Martin. "Its aim is to promote sensible drinking among students."

But Graham Goodwin, spokesman for drinks watchdog The Portman Group, defended the UK's drinks producers.

He said: "There has been a dramatic downturn in the number of complaints made against our code of practice in terms of advertising targeting underage drinkers."

Related topics Legislation

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