As the Scottish government looks at ways of tackling binge drinking among young people, a study comparing Scotland with five other European countries has found a common cause for part of the problem. The more people get drunk in the films they see, the more teenagers want to do it themselves.
The study, funded by the European Commission and the German health ministry, follows years of indecisive wrangling over the issue and is the first to get decisive results. It drew on an assessment of the most popular films in each country that determined how much drinking was on display, matching this against young people's tendency to consume more than five alcoholic drinks in a single sitting. The study then balanced this against other factors known to affect drinking habits, such as gender, and the association between films and drink was still clear.
Concerns about the influence of smoking in films have previously led several countries to consider awarding more restrictive certificates to films where characters smoke heavily. We may now see drinking on screen approached in the same way.
