Alcohol Advertising During Televised Sports and Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents

doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1080

Alcohol Advertising During Televised Sports and Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents

James C. Turner, MD jct4w{at}virginia.eduDepartment of Student HealthUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesville

KEYWORDS:

To the Editor: In their Commentary, Drs Nicholson and Hoye¹ called for a ban on alcohol advertising through sports as an important starting point in decreasing alcohol consumption by underage individuals. Their recommendation was based on what they describe as empirical evidence linking alcohol advertising through sports with alcohol consumption by adolescents. They were concerned that spending on alcohol advertising had increased in the United States by 50.8% between 2001 and 2007, and youth exposure to alcohol advertising on television had increased by 38% during the same time interval.

While anything that decreases underage drinking is very important, in the United States there are no national data that support the assertion that underage drinking increased during the years of expanded alcohol advertising expenditures and youth exposure. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health² reported that between 2002 and 2007, current use of alcohol by 12- to 17-year-olds decreased significantly and did not change for 18- to 20-year-olds. In addition, there had been no appreciable change in past-month binge or heavy alcohol use among any of the underage groups. Driving under the influence for persons 12 years or older had also decreased significantly. Similarly, Monitoring the Future³ reported that the annual prevalence for both “any use of alcohol” and “been drunk” declined slightly for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from 2002 to 2007 (continuing trends observed since 1993). If increased alcohol advertising were linked to more underage drinking, these trends could not have been observed.

There is no doubt that young persons are currently exposed to increasing amounts of alcohol advertising as well as media and entertainment content that portrays and glamorizes alcohol consumption. But despite much debate and research, the causal link between alcohol advertising and underage drinking is not clearly established.^4,5 In the absence of supporting data, a sweeping national policy change on alcohol advertising does not seem justified.

Financial Disclosures: Dr Turner reported being a consultant for and receiving speaking fees from Merck and Sanofi Pasteur.

Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.

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Results from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: national findings (NSDUH Series H-34, DHHS publication No. SMA 08-4343), 2008: figures 3.1, 3.4, and 3.6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies Web site. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/2k7results.cfm#Ch3. Accessed April 20, 2009.
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