Unawareness of Alcoholic Content of Alcopops among 13-Year Old Italian Teenagers.

Aims: Alcopops are ready-mixed drinks containing approximately the same amount of alcohol as beer, usually sweet, and flavoured, particularly appealing to young people. The present study was aimed to investigate whether young adolescents aged 12-14 years, corresponding to the average age of the first drink, are capable of identifying the presence of alcohol in these beverages. Methods: Administration of a questionnaire comprising 8 questions investigating knowledge and consumption of different alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to a sample of 13-year old Italian students. Results: More than 20% of a sample of 224 students reported that they were unaware of the alcoholic content of alcopops at the age of the first drink. The number of students unable to distinguish alcopops from non-alcoholic beverages was significantly higher than students who were not able to distinguish beer from alcohol-free beverages. Conclusions: At the age of the first drink, the identification of alcopops as alcoholic beverages is more difficult than that of other beverages containing the same amount of alcohol. Information aimed at increasing the ability of adolescents to distinguish between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages should be provided to young adolescent students before they start drinking.