Middle-school children exposed to high levels of alcohol advertising and marketing are 50 percent more likely to drink and 36 percent more likely to intend to drink than peers who were exposed to few ads, according to new research from the RAND Corporation.

Researchers studied a group of more than 1,700 sixth- and seventh-grade students, measuring their alcohol use and intention to drink against their exposure to alcohol ads on TV and magazines as well as in-store promotional items and other marketing materials, like T-shirts and posters.

"Parents may be aware that advertising may promote drinking among early adolescents," said Rebecca L. Collins, lead author of the study. "We did a previous study that found that children as young as fourth grade were very familiar with alcohol advertising and can tell you slogans and brand names. This new study shows that by the time they get to sixth grade, ads may be influencing them to drink."

Researchers found that TV alcohol ads appear to have the biggest influence on kids, but that children who owned alcohol-themed hats, posters, or T-shirts were twice as likely to drink or intend to drink as their peers. Nineteen percent of the North Dakota middle-school students surveyed said they owned such materials.

"We were a little surprised by how common these promotional items were," Collins said. "Parents can make a difference by keeping promotional merchandise from their kids. My guess is that many parents think it's harmless: your kid has a Budweiser T-shirt, it's just funny. But it probably is a subtle communication to kids that beer drinking is cool."

The study, "Early Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and its Relationship to Underage Drinking," will appear in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. It is currently available online.