[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1612”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report”}}]]New research released by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center reveals that young European teens who watch Hollywood movies featuring alcohol use are twice as likely to start drinking themselves, compared to their peers who watch relatively few such films. The study also shows that these same teens are significantly more likely to indulge in binge drinking.

Dartmouth Medical School Professor James Sargent, co-author of the study “Alcohol Consumption in Movies and Adolescent Binge Drinking in 6 European Countries,” released a similar study in February, which focused on teen drinking in the United States.

Sargent told HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report that, “The striking thing to me is how consistent the results were across countries and cultures.” He goes on to say, “Whatever you want your alcohol to do for you—make you feel rich, funny, sophisticated—you can see that in the movies. That shapes how kids see alcohol and their decisions whether to binge drink.”

The survey included 16,500 adolescents age 10 to 19 in Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland—the largest such study conducted to date. The study will be published in the April 2012 issue of Pediatrics, and is currently available to read online.

Read the full story, published 3/5/12 by HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report.