CMAJ calls for health warnings in ads
A medical journal is raising concerns about alcohol advertising, saying young girls are being influenced by the ads.
Dr. Flegel says alcohol advertising aimed at young women is being viewed more commonly by young girls
The editorial in this week’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, titled “Big alcohol catches up with adolescent girls,” says health warnings should be embedded in alcohol ads, so that young girls understand the risks of drinking.
The author, Dr. Ken Flegel, said parents should also model responsible alcohol consumption for their children.
The editorial said studies from the United States show that alcohol advertising aimed at young women is being viewed more commonly by young girls.
The studies also show that increased exposure to alcohol advertising is linked to an increase in drinking in adolescents.
Flegel said that’s probably because adolescent girls spend more time reading fashion magazines or watching TV, places where the ads are published or aired.
He said girls need to understand that drinking increases their risk of a number of health conditions, including breast cancer.
Other female-specific risks of drinking include unwanted sex and pregnancy as well as being subjected to violence, the editorial says.
From the Canadian Medical Association Journal, published online June 10:
[A]lcohol, all drinkable forms of it, is not an equal-opportunity substance. What is at issue is not the equality of drinking choice but rather the inequality of the impact of alcohol on health. On average, women have a smaller body mass than men, with proportionately less of it composed of water, which results in a more rapid rise and higher net level of alcohol in the blood for a given quantity consumed. It is well known that excess lifetime consumption of alcohol causes various forms of cancer in the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, cirrhosis, liver cancer, heart disease, addiction and dementia. Female-specific risks are already well known and include violence, unwanted sex and pregnancy, and inadvertent alcohol consumption during early pregnancy
…
The advertising industry knows very well how to secure new, lifelong clients: most current smokers began smoking before age 18. The type of alcohol advertising being directed at young women suggests that an attractive body and a successful, trendy life will be the result of using any particular product. Many of these ads also suggest that men will find them to be more desirable sex objects (a simple Internet search on “women, alcohol, advertising” should suffice to illustrate the point).
