4th March 2022 from Mirage.
New research published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health has found that Australian children are exposed to enormous volumes of alcohol advertising during live sports broadcasts each year. The research analyzed the volume of alcohol ads placed by alcohol companies during sport on free-to-air television networks.
The study found that:
– the top 10 alcohol companies placed 10,660 alcohol ads during Australian sports broadcasts over a 12-month period.
– this amounts to an average of 75 minutes of alcohol advertising each week.
– almost half (45 per cent) of the ads aired during children’s viewing times (before 8.30pm).
– most of the advertising (89 per cent) aired during the Australian Football League (AFL), National Rugby League (NRL) and cricket.
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)’s CEO Caterina Giorgi said: “Sport is a big part of the lives of many families across Australia. Having sport saturated with alcohol advertising, particularly at times when so many children are watching, is an appalling marketing tactic used by alcohol companies to recruit new drinkers”
She continues: “At the moment there is a loophole that allows alcohol companies to advertise during children’s viewing times when there is a live sports broadcast. This loophole needs to be closed to protect our children from alcohol marketing.”
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Gary Sacks, from Deakin University’s Institute for Health Transformation, said removing alcohol advertising during sport will not have major financial impacts on broadcasters, but the potential health and social benefits are substantial.
The professor also claimed: “We know the association of alcohol and sport normalizes drinking and desensitizes the community to significant harm caused by alcohol use”.
To read the full article click on the following link: https://www.miragenews.com/action-needed-to-protect-kids-from-alcohol-ads-736455/