Alcohol in movies influences teen drinking

Watching movies that feature alcohol doubles the likelihood that young teens will start drinking, and they are more likely to progress to binge drinking, according to a new study.

The researchers said their findings suggest that U.S. movie makers should adopt the same restrictions for alcohol-product placement as they have for tobacco.

In the study, more than 6,500 U.S. kids, aged 10 to 14, were asked about their consumption of alcohol, and potentially influential factors such as movie viewing and marketing, their home environment, peer behavior and personal rebelliousness.

Over two years, the proportion of kids who started drinking more than doubled, from 11 percent to 25 percent, and those who started binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row) tripled from 4 percent to 13 percent, the investigators found.

Having parents who drink and the availability of alcohol at home were associated with kids starting to drink, but not with progression to binge drinking, said the study, published online Tuesday in the journal BMJ Open.

But watching movies that featured alcohol use, owning alcohol-branded merchandise, having friends who drank, and rebelliousness were all associated with both starting to drink and progression to binge drinking, the findings showed.

The association was not only seen with movie characters who drink but also with alcohol product placement.

"Product placement in movies is forbidden for cigarettes in the U.S.A., but is legal and commonplace for the alcohol industry," James Sargent, of Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, N.H., and colleagues wrote in the report.