Movies 'Increase Binge Drinking In Teens'

Whether or not teenagers overindulge may be influenced, in part, by what they see in the movies.

Researchers in Europe have found that the more scenes of alcohol use teens watched on the big screen, the greater their risk of binge drinking. This was the case despite cultural differences between countries in how alcohol is regulated and/or consumed.

Scientists surveyed 16,500 students ages 10 to 19 from Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Scotland.

The students were asked how often they drank five alcoholic beverages during one sitting, and about the types of movies they watched. Participants were given a list of 50 movies to choose from, which included many top box-office hits from the U.S. The number of drinking scenes was tallied for each movie.

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