WASHINGTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Children and teenagers see more magazine ads for alcoholic beverages than adults, Medical News Today reports.
A study in the July issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine says in 2002, minors saw more alcohol advertising than adults in magazines and girls saw more than boys.
The study, by David Jernigan and his colleagues at Georgetown University in Washington, says compared to men and women of legal drinking age, in 2002 readers ages 12 to 20 saw 45 percent more beer ads, 12 percent more distilled-spirits ads and 65 percent more ads for low-alcohol refreshers liked sweet alcoholic beverages, alcopops and alcoholic lemonades.
"Perhaps the most striking finding of our analysis is the level or overexposure experienced by girls," the article said. "Exposure of underage girls to alcohol advertising is substantial and increasing, pointing to the failure of industry self-regulation and the need for further action."
Researchers looked at reader data from 2001 and 2002 for 103 national magazines that contained a total of 6,239 alcohol ads.
