Children as young as 10 'recognise alcohol advertising'

More advertising regulation is needed to stop young children getting familiar with alcoholic brands, a charity report warns. A poll of 400 10-11 year olds found that 79% correctly recognised Carlsberg and Smirnoff as brands of alcoholic drink.

But only 74% recognised Ben and Jerry's as a brand of ice cream and only 41% identified Mr Kipling cakes as a food, in the research commissioned by Alcohol Concern.

Children were asked to look at brand images, logos and TV adverts for popular alcohol and non-alcoholic products such as soft drinks and breakfast cereals. They want further regulation on TV advertising, as well as more restrictions on alcoholic brands involved in sporting events.

Mark Leyshon, from the charity, said: "Research shows that children who are exposed to alcohol advertising and promotion are more likely to start to use alcohol, have positive expectations about alcohol, and to drink more if they are already using alcohol. It's clear that more effective controls are needed to ensure alcohol marketing messages only reach adult audiences, and are not attractive to children."

But a spokesperson for the Department for Culture Media and Sport insisted that the UK does have appropriate levels of consumer protection. "Both European law and the UK Broadcasting Code set out strict criteria which mean that broadcast advertising for alcoholic drinks cannot be targeted at young people, or encourage immoderate consumption," the spokesperson said.

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• advertising
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• alcohol
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• alcohol concern
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• children
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• tv