A new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) states that drinking rates for adolescent girls have equalled those of boys and warns that this might be a result of the alcohol industry aiming their marketing.at young girls.

The editorial, written by Dr. Ken Flegel, senior associate editor of CMAJ, explains that adolescents are forever susceptible to suggestion. Furthermore Flegel writes, girls have been shown to experience differentiated social and emotional reactions to advertising exposure on television and in magazines.

He describes that marketers target young women, a demographic that leeches younger into the adolescent’s sphere of awareness, down to girls as young as 13.

“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,” wrote Flegel. “Many of these ads also suggest that men will find them to be more desirable sex objects… Exposure to advertising on television and in magazines, and use of alcohol have also been shown to have distinctive social and emotional effects on girls compared with boys.”

The full editorial can be read on the website of CMAJ>>

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