Children as young as 12 are already hitting the bottle and researchers warn that alcohol advertisements are driving younger people to drinking.
 
Leane Ramsoomar, a doctoral candidate at Wits University, says research conducted among close to 2 000 respondents in Soweto revealed that 22 percent of respondents started drinking at 12, and the number shot up to 66 percent by the age of 18.

Ramsoomar’s view is somehow supported by Professor Neo Morojele of the Medical Research Council, who states that young people exposed to alcohol adverts were more likely to start drinking than those not exposed.
 
To read the article titled, “Study paints dire story of booze abuse – Ads blamed for drinking by youth,” click here.