Associations between Alcohol Marketing on Alcohol Use among Zambian Youth: Opportunities for Policy Level Interventions

Background/Purpose: Alcohol use is a serious public health concern worldwide, but less attention has been given to the prevalence, scope and consequences of alcohol use in low income countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between alcohol marketing (e.g., actors, billboards, and alcohol company representative) and the protective factor of alcohol education (e.g., knowledge on dangers of alcohol and refusal of alcohol) on Zambian youths' drinking prevalence, including problem drinking and drunkenness. Methods: Secondary data analyses were based on the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in Zambia. The self-administered questionnaire, distributed to students in 2004, were completed by students primarily 13 to 15 years of age (N=2257). Four statistical models were computed using logistic regression analyses to test the associations between alcohol marketing and education and alcohol use, while controlling for possible confounding factors in each model (e.g.,gender,friends, missing school, parental monitoring, victimization, illicit drug use). Results/Outcomes: Results show that alcohol marketing, specifically marketing through an alcohol company representative, is a significant risk factor for youths' drinking problem (AOR: 1.40; 95% CI =1.06-1.86) and drunkenness (AOR: 1.47; 95% CI = 1.08-1.99) after controlling for alcohol education in the model. Conclusions: The study shows that there are significant associations between alcohol marketing to youth and increased alcohol use including problem drinking and drunkenness. These findings underscore the importance of restricting alcohol marketing practices as an important policy strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth.