AMA Goes After Beer Ads Aimed at Underage Drinkers
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health) - The American Medical Association (AMA) wants to ban beer and wine ads from prime-time television and is asking both network and cable TV to veto all ads that feature "mascots, celebrities or sports figures promoting alcohol products."
Dr. J. Edward Hill, chairman of the AMA's board of trustees, said the AMA is asking both networks and cable outlets to sign onto a voluntary agreement to hold off beer and wine ads until after 10 PM or initiate a total ban during programs that are aimed at youth--defined as a viewing audience that is at least 15% adolescents. He announced the new initiative at a press conference held in conjunction with the AMA's office of alcohol and other drug abuse.
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Hill said the AMA has a long-standing policy opposing alcohol advertising aimed at children but is acting now because of "recent evidence that alcohol damages the brains of young people and that damage may be irreversible." The AMA also released a new report titled "Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students."
The report, authored by Drs. Donald W. Zeigler, Claire Wang and Richard Yoast, concludes that no "pattern of drinking is without special risks to the developing brain from its fetal stage until early adulthood."
, 百拇医药
Dr. Sandra Brown, an alcohol researcher from the University of California, San Diego, who joined the press conference by telephone, said researchers have long known that alcohol "has a detrimental effect on adult brains. The frightening new news is that it has the same effect on young brains."
Brown said published studies using functional MRI to compare adolescents who are regular alcohol users to abstinent teens demonstrate decreased function in brain areas that affect memory as well as spatial visual function. Additionally, she said that even after abstaining from drinking for 3 weeks, teens who are regular binge drinkers show deficits in retention of both verbal and non-verbal information, suggesting a defect in short-term memory.
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Dr. David Jernigan, a researcher at Georgetown's Center on Alcohol Marketing to Youth, said his research suggests that both the beer and hard liquor industry specifically target underage drinkers. "Underage drinkers account for 12% of all alcohol sales," Jernigan said. He noted that two trade associations, the Beer Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, have policies that prohibit ads targeting teens or ads that feature sexually suggestive behavior.
, http://www.100md.com
But Jernigan then illustrated several examples of television, print and Web-based advertising that appear to violate those standards. He said that his group will release another study on December 17 that will look at youth-targeted TV advertising. He said his center is petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to once again investigate advertising practices of the liquor industry.
Hill said the AMA is seeking voluntary cooperation from television outlets, but said that the organization will not back off this new campaign. Noting that in New Orleans it's less expensive to buy beer than milk or juice, he added, "we can't let our children drown in a river of cheap beer.", http://www.100md.com
Dr. J. Edward Hill, chairman of the AMA's board of trustees, said the AMA is asking both networks and cable outlets to sign onto a voluntary agreement to hold off beer and wine ads until after 10 PM or initiate a total ban during programs that are aimed at youth--defined as a viewing audience that is at least 15% adolescents. He announced the new initiative at a press conference held in conjunction with the AMA's office of alcohol and other drug abuse.
, 百拇医药
Hill said the AMA has a long-standing policy opposing alcohol advertising aimed at children but is acting now because of "recent evidence that alcohol damages the brains of young people and that damage may be irreversible." The AMA also released a new report titled "Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students."
The report, authored by Drs. Donald W. Zeigler, Claire Wang and Richard Yoast, concludes that no "pattern of drinking is without special risks to the developing brain from its fetal stage until early adulthood."
, 百拇医药
Dr. Sandra Brown, an alcohol researcher from the University of California, San Diego, who joined the press conference by telephone, said researchers have long known that alcohol "has a detrimental effect on adult brains. The frightening new news is that it has the same effect on young brains."
Brown said published studies using functional MRI to compare adolescents who are regular alcohol users to abstinent teens demonstrate decreased function in brain areas that affect memory as well as spatial visual function. Additionally, she said that even after abstaining from drinking for 3 weeks, teens who are regular binge drinkers show deficits in retention of both verbal and non-verbal information, suggesting a defect in short-term memory.
, http://www.100md.com
Dr. David Jernigan, a researcher at Georgetown's Center on Alcohol Marketing to Youth, said his research suggests that both the beer and hard liquor industry specifically target underage drinkers. "Underage drinkers account for 12% of all alcohol sales," Jernigan said. He noted that two trade associations, the Beer Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, have policies that prohibit ads targeting teens or ads that feature sexually suggestive behavior.
, http://www.100md.com
But Jernigan then illustrated several examples of television, print and Web-based advertising that appear to violate those standards. He said that his group will release another study on December 17 that will look at youth-targeted TV advertising. He said his center is petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to once again investigate advertising practices of the liquor industry.
Hill said the AMA is seeking voluntary cooperation from television outlets, but said that the organization will not back off this new campaign. Noting that in New Orleans it's less expensive to buy beer than milk or juice, he added, "we can't let our children drown in a river of cheap beer.", http://www.100md.com