Alcohol marketing policy and advertising exposure in low and middle income Latin American countries

Abstract

While it is presumed that alcohol marketing policies decrease adolescent exposure to alcohol advertising, scientific literature on the topic is sparse. The current study sought to determine if alcohol marketing policy strength in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) region of the Americas was associated with adolescent alcohol ad exposure. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Global School-based Health Survey and the WHO’s Global Information System on Alcohol and Health . Linear regression was used, and the analysis included country-level (i.e. other alcohol policies, human development index (HDI), pattern of drinking score (PDS)) and individual-level (i.e. participant age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), lifetime drinking status) covariates. Among 47,195 adolescents, 11–16 years old, from 13 countries, marketing policy strength was inversely associated with alcohol ad exposure (β (95% confidence interval (CI)) = −0.82 (−0.96, −0.68), p < .001). Other alcohol control measures, HDI, PDS, and participant SES were also inversely associated with exposure (p’s < .001). As presumed, alcohol marketing policies may reduce adolescent exposure to alcohol advertising, and countries should consider including strong marketing restrictions, or complete marketing bans, when implementing alcohol control policies in their effort to meet the sustainable development goals.