
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994                   TAG: 9402110098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

STUDY: BEER COMMERCIALS DO INFLUENCE CHILDREN TO DRINK

Those fun-filled beer commercials at half-time may be influencing children to drink, according to research that found fifth-graders reciting slogans, reeling off brand names and saying they intended to drink frequently later in life.

And they get plenty of chances to absorb those commercials whenever they watch sports on TV. Researchers counted 685 alcohol ads during 122 televised sporting events, only three of which cautioned moderation in drinking.

"Their beliefs are being influenced, their beliefs about the positive consequences of drinking," said Joel Grube of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Prevention Research Center. The institute is an arm of the National Institutes of Health.

The issue of alcohol advertising's impact on children has long been controversial. Teen-agers consume 1.1 billion cans or bottles of beer every year, and some researchers have linked such drinking to exposure to ads. The industry insists that it doesn't target underage consumers and that even if minors are exposed to the ads, it doesn't influence their behavior.

But Grube, in two studies to be published today in the American Journal of Public Health, found that not only are children bombarded with alcohol advertising, they link drinking with "romance, sociability and relaxation."

His work debunks the industry contention that Spuds McKenzie, the "Bud Bowl" and other popular advertising symbols are harmless, said James Mosher, executive director of the Marin Institute, an alcohol-prevention foundation in California. Mosher called for legislation to govern alcohol advertising.

The Beer Institute responded that no one has proved advertising contributes to underage drinking, which has been dropping since the 1970s thanks to education programs.

"This is an obvious campaign against the beer industry waged by a small anti-alcohol faction within the American Public Health Association," which publishes the Journal, said institute President Raymond McGrath.

Grube found in a study of 468 Northern California youngsters that fifth- and sixth-graders recited slogans, reeled off brand names and even identified commercials by a photograph in which the brand name was marked out.

In another study, he found more than 1.5 alcohol commercials are broadcast for every hour of sports programming. Plus, more subtle advertising, from shots of product-endorsed stadium signs to sponsorship announcements, appear 3.3 times an hour.

by CNB