Children as young as 12 are already hitting the bottle and researchers warn that booze adverts are driving younger people to drinking.
These are some of the shocking revelations by some of the country's leading researchers at a seminar on the government's plan to curb alcohol abuse.
Leane Ramsoomar, a doctoral candidate at Wits University, said research conducted among close to 2000 respondents in Soweto revealed that 22% of respondents started drinking at 12, and the number shot up to 66% by the age of 18.
"Adverts do make people start drinking. Exposure to alcohol adverts increases the probability of starting drinking," said Ramsoomar.
However, she warned that banning alcohol advertising must be supplemented by other policy interventions.
The Medical Research Council's Professor Neo Morojele said young people exposed to alcohol adverts were more likely to start drinking than those not exposed.
According to Morojele, research conducted by the MRC last year found that there was an association between exposure to alcohol adverts and starting to drink.
She said 75% of the nearly 3000 respondents in the research strongly supported restrictions in alcohol advertising.
The research also revealed that 23% of adolescents, the majority of whom do not drink, had seen alcohol adverts online, 87% had seen them in shops and 97% on TV.
The seminar, organised by the Department of Trade and Industry, is part of deliberations on the government's proposed new liquor policy, which seeks to restrict or ban alcohol advertising, and to make tavern owners and drink distributors responsible for damage and even deaths linked to patrons they served booze.
MacDonald Netshitenzhe, the department's legislation and policy chief director, said there were plans to tamper with trading hours and increase the "sin" tax.
"It has been proven that if prices increase, people are forced to cut down," he said.
Netshitenzhe said another plan to be considered would be to increase the distance between booze joints and from other recreational facilities from 500 metres to two kilometres. This might discourage patrons from visiting their favourite watering holes.
Study paints dire story of booze abuse - Ads blamed for drinking by youth
Children as young as 12 are already hitting the bottle and researchers warn that booze adverts are driving younger people to drinking.
These are some of the shocking revelations by some of the country's leading researchers at a seminar on the government's plan to curb alcohol abuse.
Leane Ramsoomar, a doctoral candidate at Wits University, said research conducted among close to 2000 respondents in Soweto revealed that 22% of respondents started drinking at 12, and the number shot up to 66% by the age of 18.
"Adverts do make people start drinking. Exposure to alcohol adverts increases the probability of starting drinking," said Ramsoomar.
However, she warned that banning alcohol advertising must be supplemented by other policy interventions.
The Medical Research Council's Professor Neo Morojele said young people exposed to alcohol adverts were more likely to start drinking than those not exposed.
According to Morojele, research conducted by the MRC last year found that there was an association between exposure to alcohol adverts and starting to drink.
She said 75% of the nearly 3000 respondents in the research strongly supported restrictions in alcohol advertising.
The research also revealed that 23% of adolescents, the majority of whom do not drink, had seen alcohol adverts online, 87% had seen them in shops and 97% on TV.
The seminar, organised by the Department of Trade and Industry, is part of deliberations on the government's proposed new liquor policy, which seeks to restrict or ban alcohol advertising, and to make tavern owners and drink distributors responsible for damage and even deaths linked to patrons they served booze.
MacDonald Netshitenzhe, the department's legislation and policy chief director, said there were plans to tamper with trading hours and increase the "sin" tax.
"It has been proven that if prices increase, people are forced to cut down," he said.
Netshitenzhe said another plan to be considered would be to increase the distance between booze joints and from other recreational facilities from 500 metres to two kilometres. This might discourage patrons from visiting their favourite watering holes.
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