Children and teenagers are being bombarded with messages about alcohol at sport events and this may encourage early drinking, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has warned.

It was referring to a new study from the UK which found that alcohol sports sponsorship is linked with increased alcohol consumption, including risky drinking behaviours, among schoolchildren and sports people.

Undertaken by the UK Institute of Alcohol Studies, it involved over 12,700 people living in a number of countries, including the UK, Germany and Australia.

It included a study of teenagers in Wales, aged 14 and15, which revealed that awareness of alcohol sports sponsorship was linked with a 13% increased chance of girls getting drunk at the weekend, and a 15% increased chance among boys.

When these young people were aware of alcohol sports sponsorship and had a positive attitude towards alcohol, the chances of them getting drunk at the weekend were 27% higher in girls and 26% higher in boys.

The study also included an assessment of 13 and 14-year-olds living in four EU countries. It found that when they were exposed to alcohol sponsorship while watching a major football tournament, the chance that they would take part in underage drinking jumped by 70%.

Prof Frank Murray, president of the RCPI, described this as ‘robust evidence' and called for the next Government to end the link between alcohol sponsorship and sport in an effort to protect young people.

"We believe that the alcohol industry has no place in the sports ground. Children and young adults are increasingly participating and attending sporting events, which have long-term benefits for their health and wellbeing. As a society we should be protecting them from the targeted and sophisticated messaging of the alcohol industry that clearly is recruiting the next generation of drinkers to support the profits of the alcohol industry into the future," he commented.

He noted that every day in Ireland, three people die as a result of alcohol and every night, 2,000 hospital beds are occupied due to alcohol consumption. This, he said, puts ‘unsustainable pressure on hospitals'.

"Alcohol is a factor in suicides, cancers, social disorders and road deaths and affects virtually every family in Ireland. Bans on sports sponsorship are in place in France and Norway. We would encourage a similar ban on alcohol sports sponsorship in Ireland," Prof Murray added.

Details of the UK study are published in the journal, Alcohol and Alcoholism.