A study, which was conducted by the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway, has suggested that childrens' exposure to the advertisement of alcohol in Ireland has negative implications on the health and wellbeing of the younger generation.
The research, which was commissioned by Alcohol Action Ireland, indicates that significant exposure to the marketing of alcohol can lead to binge drinking and increase the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviour.
The data, which was collected in questionnaire-form from 16 schools in three regions across Ireland, analysed 686 children aged between 13 and 17-years-old and suggests that the country's adolescents are over-exposed to the advertisement of alcoholic beverages.
According to the study, entitled Alcohol Marketing and Young People: Drinking Behaviour in Ireland, 90% of teens were exposed to “traditional” or off-line advertising in the week prior to participating in the study, with more than 50% asserting they saw at least four advertisements per day.
Further to this, it was revealed that a whopping 77% reported online exposure while a worrying 61% asserted they owned alcohol-branded merchandise.
Perhaps most worrying of all, the study, which has sparked a call for legislation which will regulate the sector, indicated that more than half of children aged between 13 and 15-years-old in Ireland have consumed alcohol.
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