Alcohol advertising is everywhere – on TV, bus shelters, and social media. As a parent, keeping track of what your child sees can seem impossible. So, should we be concerned about children being exposed to alcohol ads?
The short answer is yes.
Just like any other industry, alcohol companies market their products to look fun, social and appealing. But children are especially vulnerable to this kind of advertising. Research shows that seeing alcohol ads at a young age is linked to alcohol use earlier in life, and at riskier levels. We’ve outlined some of the risks and what we can do to help protect children from harmful exposure.
What are the risks?
Studies have found a relationship between childhood or adolescent exposure to alcohol ads and drinking. The more often children see these ads, the higher the chances they’ll use alcohol at a young age and at risky levels.
Early alcohol use is linked to increased harms from alcohol. Even small amounts of alcohol increase the risk of cancer, and this risk increases over time. There are other serious health risks from alcohol use:
- Short term harms include increased risk of injury, violence, road trauma, and drowning.
- Long term harms include chronic diseases such as liver disease, cardiovascular disease and digestive conditions.
What does the WA community think?
Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia recently spoke with parents in Western Australia about their concerns. Many felt overwhelmed by how often and where their children saw alcohol ads.
‘I think that he’s exposed to quite a lot of alcohol advertising just from the places that we choose to go.’ (Mother of 11-14 year old)
‘I mean, it’s everywhere you go. You can’t get away from it.’ (Father of 11-14 year old)
‘I think the familiarisation of the advertising can be almost making it acceptable to see alcohol everywhere you go. It’s almost like it becomes part of the furniture, so to speak. And it just becomes commonplace and more accepted… “it’s OK.” More the norm, I guess.’ (Father of 15-17 year old)
It’s not just parents who are noticing. Children themselves are critically aware of the impact this advertising can have. A separate study by a group of researchers in Perth found that school students living in areas with high levels of unhealthy advertising near schools felt it was inappropriate. They made it clear they understood the impact alcohol advertising can have on children.
‘It seems like they’re trying to really push [alcohol] on young people, who they know are more susceptible to peer pressure or buying the products if they see it everywhere.’ (13 year old student)
The children in this study believed the advertising of alcohol near schools to be unethical.
‘Alcohol [advertising near schools] is morally wrong because you’re advertising to kids that it tastes good and it can damage your life and you can have a shorter life expectancy.’ (13 year old student)
‘I think they probably shouldn’t be advertising alcohol around schools because there are very young impressionable minds. They could really mess up someone’s future.’ (13 year old student)
So, how can we protect our children?
At Cancer Council WA, we’re working with all levels of government to encourage healthier advertising standards that mean that families can live, work, go to school and play in environments that are free of advertising for alcohol and other unhealthy industries.
We do this by providing policymakers with evidence of how this advertising affects children and communities and the harms that could be reduced by introducing marketing reforms.
But that alone isn’t always enough. The decision makers also need to hear that the community supports change. We can do this by elevating community stories and perspectives, like those from parents and children in this article.
By sharing your story, you can add to the growing movement of parents and community members calling for reforms that put the health and wellbeing of children first.
