Teenage drinking among girls is rising faster than it is among boys, and magazine advertising may be a big reason why. Researchers at Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth in Washington, D.C., recently concluded a study of 103 national magazines. The group found that in 2002 the increase in ads for low-alcohol drinks seen by teenage females was more than four times higher than the rise in ads seen by teenage males.

The rise in drinking is documented by the 2002 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. According to that study, teenage girls were more likely than their male peers to have imbibed alcohol in the month before filling out a survey. And previous studies have established that alcohol ads affect teens' drinking intentions and behavior. One study found that viewing ads activated brain areas associated with desire in adolescents who have alcohol-use disorders.

This article was originally published with the title Drink Up, Girls.

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