10 - February - 2015
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE... NEWS
PAGE 3
Merseyside toy designer scoops second BAFTA
LIFEextra
PAGE 12
Recipes to get you prepared for Pancake Day
SPORT
PAGE 15
Everton unveil Hillsborough memorial plaque
KIDS’ BOOZE BRAND ROW BACKING FOR DOMESTIC ABUSE CAMPAIGN
Benidorm’s Chrissy Rock is one of many supporting the Knowsley-based campaign. Full story: page 3
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Children recognise alcohol logos more than biscuits By AMY NICHOLSON A row is brewing over a survey which has revealed that North West primary school children are more familiar with beer brands than biscuits. The research found that a huge 91% of 10-11 year olds in the North West are more familiar with the Foster’s lager brand than popular biscuit, crisp and ice cream brands. Half of the children associated their favourite football teams with the beer brands that they are sponsored by, including almost half in the North West associating Chang beer with Everton F.C and Carlsberg with the English national team. However, a spokesperson for The Portman Group, a trade group made up of alcohol producers and brewers, hit back at the results and told Liverpool Life: “This is yet another weak and misleading piece of research from Alcohol Concern who choose to ignore the official government statistics that show underage drinking has been declining at a significant rate for the last decade.” The survey has been carried out by Alcohol Concern who surveyed 10 and 11-year-olds from primary schools across the North West. They were asked about their recognition of alcohol and snack brand names and logos, alcohol sponsorship of football, their TV viewing and social media use, and whether they had tried alcohol. The results were concerning as evi-
dence shows that exposure to alcohol marketing leads young people to drink more, and start drinking at an earlier age. A Mersey Care NHS Trust spokesperson told Liverpool Life: “Although we do not care directly for children with alcohol problems, we have first hand knowledge of dealing with the impact of alcohol addiction on families of our service users. “Our best way of tackling this is by educating young people about the harmful effects of alcohol, reaching out to them in a way that makes them take notice.” The Portman Group told Liverpool Life: “Alcohol sponsorship is already strictly controlled in the UK and drinks companies are required to actively promote responsible drinking as part of their sponsorship agreements. “Bans on alcohol sponsorship do not reduce alcohol harms. In France, an alcohol sponsorship and marketing ban has been accompanied by two decades of increasingly harmful drinking among children and teenagers.” Hospital admissions due to alcohol in under 18s has declined 34% between 2009 and 2013, and the number of 11-15s who drink alcohol once a week declined by 22% since 2008. Other key findings from the survey include more than two thirds of children in the North West were able to identify Smirnoff (74%) and WKD (69%), and almost three in four children (73%) recognised the Foster’s ‘Brad and Dan’ TV advert.