̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Milica Vasiljevic

Labelling alcoholic drinks as lower in strength could encourage people to drink more, study suggests

cjb250 — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 23:58:10 +0000

Alcohol is the fifth leading cause of disease and premature death both in the UK and globally. Reducing consumption of alcohol is a public health priority in many countries. In the UK, as part of a range of steps to reduce overall alcohol consumption, policymakers are currently interested in allowing industry to label a wider range of alcohol products as lower in alcohol.

Proposed legislative changes include extending the variety of terms that could be used to denote lower alcohol content, and extending the strength limit to include products lower than the current average on the market (12.9% ABV for wine and 4.2% ABV for beer*).

“For lower strength alcohol products to reduce consumption, consumers will need to select them in place of equal volumes of higher strength products,” says Dr Milica Vasiljevic from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. “But what if the lower strength products enable people to feel they can consume more?”

In this study, two-hundred and sixty-four weekly wine and beer drinkers – sampled from a representative panel of the general population of England – were randomised to one of three groups to taste test drinks in a laboratory designed to mimic a bar environment. ̽��ֱ��drinks varied only in the label displayed. In one group participants taste-tested drinks labelled ‘Super Low’ and ‘4%ABV’ for wine or ‘1%ABV’ for beer. In another group the drinks were labelled ‘Low’ and ‘8%ABV’ for wine or ‘3%ABV’ for beer. In the final group participants taste-tested drinks labelled with no verbal descriptors of strength, but displaying the average strength on the market – wine (‘12.9%ABV’) or beer (‘4.2%ABV’).

̽��ֱ��results showed the total amount of drink consumed increased as the label on the drink denoted successively lower alcohol strength. ̽��ֱ��mean consumption of drinks labelled ‘Super Low’ was 214ml, compared with 177ml for regular (unlabelled) drinks. Individual differences in drinking patterns and socio-demographic indicators did not affect these results.

“Labelling lower strength alcohol may sound like a good idea if it encourages people to switch drinks, but our study suggests it may paradoxically encourage people to drink more,” says Professor Theresa Marteau, senior author and Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit.

While this study shows that people may drink more if drinks are labelled as lower in strength, the researchers do not yet know if this effect is sufficient to result in the consumption of more units of alcohol overall from lower strength alcohol drinks. Furthermore, participants in this study were tested in a bar-laboratory setting. To learn more about the impact of lower strength alcohol labelling, research in real-world settings is needed.

̽��ֱ��study was funded by the Department of Health.

*ABV denotes alcohol by volume, the standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic drink.

Reference
Vasiljevic M, Couturier DL, Frings D, Moss AC, Albery IP, Marteau TM. Impact of lower strength alcohol labeling on consumption: A randomized controlled trial. Health Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/hea0000622

Wines and beers labelled as lower in alcohol strength may increase the total amount of alcoholic drink consumed, according to a study published in the journal Health Psychology. ̽��ֱ��study was carried out by the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge in collaboration with the Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research at London South Bank ̽��ֱ��.

For lower strength alcohol products to reduce consumption, consumers will need to select them in place of equal volumes of higher strength products

Milica Vasiljevic

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Beer foam bubbles

Researcher profile: Dr Milica Vasiljevic

On the face of it, e-cigarettes and low alcohol seem to be a step in the right direction towards reducing the health impacts of smoking and drinking. But are things really so clear cut? This is one of the questions that social psychologist Dr Milica Vasiljevic is asking.

Vasiljevic investigates the impact that environmental cues have on health behaviours, and how this knowledge can be translated into effective interventions to change our behaviour to improve health and reduce inequalities. “ ̽��ֱ��bulk of my work to date has looked at how cues such as labelling and advertising encourage people to eat unhealthily, drink alcohol, and/or smoke tobacco,” she says.

Her work is of particular interest to policymakers and has informed national and international policies. “My recent work on the impact of e-cigarette adverts on perceived harm of tobacco smoking amongst children has been discussed at the US Food & Drug Administration, the German Bundestag, and the UK House of Lords in relation to legislative changes surrounding the marketing of e-cigarettes,” she explains.

Similarly, her work on lower strength alcohol labelling is currently used by the Department of Health to inform legislative changes to national alcohol labelling rules in England, which are due to come into force after 2018.

̽��ֱ��Behaviour and Health Research Unit, where she works, is a multidisciplinary policy research unit including psychologists, economists, medics, sociologists, social scientists, and statisticians.

“This diverse mix is very enriching, and on many occasions has spurred creative solutions to research problems that we have been grappling with. But, most importantly, being in such close contact with stellar researchers with diverse training backgrounds is fun and inspirational; and has helped me develop my research skills and communication style.”

Vasiljevic is a keen communicator, as is appropriate for someone whose work has relevance to all of our lives. “ ̽��ֱ��most interesting days I’ve had so far are the Cambridge Science Festival days and also the days when I have carried out outreach work in schools,” she says. “These events are always lots of fun, and are an excellent opportunity for children and adults from the local communities to get involved in our research, learn more about what we do, and of course help us shape some of our future studies.”

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Young people exposed to vaping ads less likely to think occasional smoking is bad for health

cjb250 — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 21:21:41 +0000

Estimates suggest that among children who try smoking, between one third and one half are likely to become regular smokers within two to three years. However, young people are now more likely to experiment with e-cigarettes than they are with tobacco cigarettes. For example, a 2014 study found that 22% of children aged 11-15 in England had experimented with e-cigarettes, compared to 18% for tobacco cigarettes.

There is concern that the increasing exposure of children to e-cigarette adverts could be contributing to high rates of experimentation; in the US, adolescents’ exposure to e-cigarette adverts on TV more than trebled between 2011 to 2013. E-cigarette brands often market themselves as helping people quit smoking and as healthier and cheaper alternatives to tobacco cigarettes.

In this study from researchers at the Behaviour and Health Research Unit, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, and the ̽��ֱ�� of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, and published today in the journal Tobacco Control, more than 400 English children aged 11-16 who had never smoked or ‘vaped’ previously were recruited and randomly allocated to one of three groups. One group was shown ten adverts that depicted e-cigarettes as glamorous, a second group was shown ten adverts that portrayed them as healthy, and a third control group was shown no adverts.

̽��ֱ��children were then asked a series of questions aimed at determining their attitudes towards smoking and vaping. Children shown the adverts were no more or less likely than the control group to perceive tobacco smoking as appealing and all three groups understood that smoking more than ten cigarettes a day was harmful. However, both groups of children exposed to the e-cigarette adverts, both healthy and glamorous, were less likely to believe that smoking one or two tobacco cigarettes occasionally was harmful.

Dr Milica Vasiljevic from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge says: “While we can be optimistic that the adverts don’t seem to make tobacco smoking more appealing to young people, they do appear to make occasional smoking seem less harmful. This is worrying, as we know that even occasional tobacco smoking is bad for your health, and young people who smoke occasionally believe they are somehow immune to its effects and do not feel the need to quit.”

̽��ֱ��group of children that were shown adverts depicting e-cigarettes as glamorous also believed e-cigarette vaping to be more prevalent than did the other two groups.

Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit and a Fellow of Christ’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, adds: “E-cigarette marketing across Europe is regulated under the new EU Tobacco Products Directive, which came into effect on the 20th May this year. ̽��ֱ��Directive limits the exposure of children to TV and newspaper e-cigarette adverts. However, it does not cover advertising in the form of posters, leaflets, and adverts at point of sale, nor does it cover the content of marketing materials depicting e-cigarettes as glamorous or healthy. ̽��ֱ��findings from our study suggest these omissions could present a threat to the health of children.”

̽��ֱ��study was funded by the Department of Health.

Reference
Petrescu, D, Vasiljevic, M, Pepper, JK, Ribisl, KM, Marteau, TM . What is the impact of e-cigarette adverts on children’s perceptions of tobacco smoking? An experimental study. Tobacco Control; 6 Sept 2016; DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-052940

Exposure to advertisements for e-cigarettes may decrease the perceived health risks of occasional tobacco smoking, suggests new research from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, prompting concern that this may lead more young people to experiment with smoking.

While we can be optimistic that the adverts don’t seem to make tobacco smoking more appealing to young people, they do appear to make occasional smoking seem less harmful.

Milica Vasiljevic

Vaping360

E-cigarette

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Ads for candy-flavoured e-cigarettes could encourage vaping among school children

cjb250 — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 00:00:03 +0000

E-cigarettes are now the most commonly consumed nicotine product amongst children in countries with strong tobacco control policies. In the USA, the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that e-cigarette use tripled from 2013 to 2014 amongst high schoolers, rising from 4.5% to over 13%, and amongst middle school students increasing from 1% to 4%. These figures are mirrored in England, where e-cigarette use has risen from 5% in 2013 to 8% in 2014 amongst 11-18 year olds.

As e-cigarette use, rises amongst children and adolescents, there are concerns that their use could lead to tobacco smoking, say researchers from the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. ̽��ֱ��Behaviour and Health Research Unit (BHRU) is based in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care and funded by the UK Department of Health Policy Research Programme.

E-cigarettes are currently marketed in around 8,000 different flavours. Internal tobacco industry documents show that young people find tobacco products with candy-like flavours more appealing than those without. Candy- and liqueur-flavoured tobacco products were heavily marketed to young people from the 1970s until 2009, when regulations were imposed.

In a study funded by the Department of Health, researchers at Cambridge assigned 598 school children to one of three groups: one group was shown adverts for candy-like flavoured e-cigarettes; a second group adverts for non-flavoured e-cigarettes; and a third, control group, in which the children saw no adverts.

̽��ֱ��school children were then asked questions to gauge issues such as the appeal of using e-cigarettes and tobacco smoking (did the children think e-cigarettes or tobacco were ‘attractive’, ‘fun’ or ‘cool’?), the perceived harm of smoking, how much they liked the ads and how interested they might be in buying and trying e-cigarettes.

̽��ֱ��children shown the ads for candy-flavoured e-cigarettes liked these ads more and expressed a greater interest in buying and trying e-cigarettes than their peers. However, showing the ads made no significant difference to the overall appeal of tobacco smoking or of using e-cigarettes – in other words, how attractive, fun or cool they considered the activities.

“We’re cautiously optimistic from our results that e-cigarette ads don’t make tobacco smoking more attractive, but we’re concerned that ads for e-cigarettes with flavours that might appeal to school children could encourage them to try the products,” says Dr Milica Vasiljevic from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Currently across Europe and the USA, marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes is virtually unregulated. For example, in the UK the Committee on Advertising Practice has issued rules for the advertising of e-cigarettes. A key aspect of these rules is that e-cigarette adverts must not be likely to appeal to people under 18, and those who are non-smokers or non-nicotine users as well as not allowing the models in these adverts to appear younger than 25; however, the rules do not provide any explicit prohibitions regarding the advertising of candy-like flavours designed to appeal to children.

̽��ֱ��results of the current study support the imminent changes in EU regulations surrounding the marketing of e-cigarettes, but raise questions about the need for further regulation regarding the content of products with high appeal to children. More research is needed to examine both the short- and long-term impact of e-cigarette advertising, as well as the link between e-cigarette use and tobacco smoking.

Reference
Vasiljevic, M, Petrescu, DC, Marteau, TM. Impact of advertisements promoting candy-like flavoured e-cigarettes on appeal of tobacco smoking amongst children: an experimental study. Tobacco Control; 18 Jan 2016

Advertisements featuring e-cigarettes with flavours such as chocolate and bubble gum are more likely to attract school children to buy and try e-cigarettes than those featuring non-flavoured e-cigarettes, according to new research published in the journal Tobacco Control.

We’re cautiously optimistic from our results that e-cigarette ads don’t make tobacco smoking more attractive, but we’re concerned that ads for e-cigarettes with flavours that might appeal to school children could encourage them to try the products

Milica Vasiljevic

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E-Cigarette

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