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Movies make youth drink: Study

Youngsters witnessing alcohol use in Bollywood movies are twice as likely to have tried drinking than their counterparts who do not watch movies, according to a new study presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Dubai on Thursday.

Though the study surveyed Indian youth only, the impact could be even greater since a number of Bollywood movies premiere in Dubai each year and are watched by people of several nationalities.

The study pointed out that the students who had been more exposed to Bollywood movies were 2.78 times more likely to have tried alcohol as compared with those who were least exposed.

“The results show that exposure to alcohol use depictions in Bollywood films is directly associated with alcohol use among young people in India,” said Dr G. P. Nazar from Health Related Information Dissemination Against Youth during a presentation at the congress.

Overall, 10 per cent of the students (aged between 12 and 16) surveyed in the study had already tried alcohol but those who had been exposed to alcohol in movies were twice as likely to have tried alcohol.

Fifty-nine popular Bollywood movies were coded to record the number of alcohol use occurrences and 3,956 youth were then asked if they had seen these movies. Results were derived according to the exposure to the movie of each youngster.

“While alcohol advertising is banned in Indian media and scenes that justify or glorify drinking are not allowed in Bollywood films, there is no dedicated health legislation that prohibits depiction of alcohol in these films,” said Dr Nazar. “There is a clear need for an immediate alcohol control policy,” he added.

Too much alcohol use and binge drinking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. It can raise blood pressure, increase the presence of some fats in the blood stream and increase calorie intake which in turn leads to obesity and overweight.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com