Monica H. Swahn, Rachel Culbreth, Ari Fodeman, Cherell Cottrell‐Daniels, Nazarius Mbona Tumwesigye, David H. Jernigan, Rogers Kasirye, Isidore Obot
Drug and Alcohol Review, June 2022, Wiley
DOI: 10.1111/dar.13497
Drug and Alcohol Review, June 2022, WileyAlcohol marketing is a key risk factor for alcohol use among youth but has rarely been studied in Uganda. In this study, we examine what youth who live in urban slums think about alcohol marketing and how much and where they see such marketing. Then we determine how alcohol marketing influenced their drinking frequency, drinking quantity and if they had alcohol-related problems. Our analyses show that there is a strong relationship between what youth think of alcohol marketing and how much they see and their own drinking patterns.
Why is it important?
In Uganda, a country with limited resources, there is a very high burden of alcohol-related harm. Restricting alcohol marketing is an evidence-based strategy for reducing alcohol-related harm. But, few studies have looked at alcohol marketing and its influence on youth in Uganda. Our study fills this gap by demonstrating the relationship between alcohol marketing and youth drinking in a relatively large epidemiological study. These findings can be used to inform and develop impactful and cost-effective intervention strategies to protect youth, such as reducing alcohol marketing exposure among youth under the legal drinking age.
Perspectives
I hope this research will be used and of benefit to the communities across Uganda and in similar settings that struggle to protect youth from aggressive alcohol marketing and high levels of alcohol-related harm. As always, it takes a committed team to produce this type of work, I’m very grateful to the Uganda Youth Development Link, our study implementing partner and to all the co-authors as well as the broader study team. Finally, this study would not have been possible without the funding from NIH.
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This page is a summary of: Heavy drinking and problem drinking among youth in Uganda: A structural equation model of alcohol marketing, advertisement perceptions and social norms, Drug and Alcohol Review, June 2022, Wiley, DOI: 10.1111/dar.13497.
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