No and low alcohol drinks are products below 1.2% ABV that look and/or taste like alcoholic drinks and are generally marketed as alcohol substitutes. The production, availability and consumption of no and low alcohol drinks has been rising quickly over the last few years. There is increasing attention on the issue among policymakers, academics, market researchers and the public health community. No and low alcohol drinks are of particular interest to Alcohol Change UK as our experience of supporting people who are changing their drinking habits has highlighted the role that these drinks play in many people’s lives.
Emerging research suggests that some people find no and low alcohol drinks helpful in reducing and managing their alcohol consumption. However, there are also potential negative impacts, including the possibility that the drinks could trigger cravings for alcohol for some people; the potential that the drinks could introduce children and young people to the taste, ritual and branding of alcohol; and the potential for increasing health inequalities.
We know that drinking practices among young people in the UK are changing, with rates of consumption overall in decline, and young people more likely to drink alcohol at home than in public spaces, compared to previous generations. At the same time, harms caused by alcohol are rising, with recent data from the Office for National Statistics recording the highest number of deaths caused by alcohol on record. While there is a growing international body of evidence on youth drinking cultures and practices, including in family settings, less is known about young people’s consumption of no and low alcohol products.
Families and the home are places where some young people learn and negotiate ideas and norms about alcohol consumption. However, little is known about how no and low alcohol drinks fit into this picture. Existing evidence shows that the normalisation of alcohol consumption via advertising, marketing and peer norms is associated with higher risk behaviour with alcohol. No and low alcohol drinks on the one hand challenge alco-centric drinking cultures. At the same time, by imitating standard strength drinks, they risk initiating children into the taste, look and branding of alcoholic drinks.
This is an exploratory study to investigate how and why young people consume no and low alcohol drinks in family contexts. We are interested in how the drinks are perceived by adults in the family, the role that the drinks play, and how they relate to the consumption (or non-consumption) of alcohol by young people in family settings.
For more details about the project and how to submit a proposal, please download the invitation to tender below.
The deadline for submissions is 9am on Thursday 26 September 2024.