Alcohol-Free Childhood Campaign

Working together for a childhood free from alcohol marketing

 

Alcohol Focus Scotland has joined forces with BMA Scotland, Children in Scotland, Scottish Families affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD) and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol (SHAAP) in a mission to end the harmful impacts of alcohol marketing on children and young people in Scotland. 

The Alcohol-Free Childhood Campaign has the support of over 60 organisations.

Over 80 MSPs from all parties in Holyrood support an alcohol-free childhood. This includes the First Minister, John Swinney MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray MSP and the Minister for Alcohol and Drugs Policy and Sport, Maree Todd MSP.

Alcohol marketing leads children and young people to start drinking earlier, to drink more, and to drink at problematic levels. We need to do more to prevent this.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol due to their physical immaturity and lower tolerance levels. Early drinking establishes patterns that often persist into adulthood, significantly raising the likelihood of alcohol dependence and harmful drinking behaviours later in life.

Impact of Alcohol Marketing

In September 2025, Public Health Scotland (PHS) published an evidence review, commissioned by the Scottish Government to inform their future decisions on whether and how to restrict alcohol marketing. It found that “alcohol marketing and advertising is pervasive and persuasive, and frequent exposure to it drives alcohol consumption and related harms, including among children and young people”. PHS concluded that introducing restrictions on alcohol advertising and marketing is an effective and cost-effective way of reducing how much we drink.

The Right to a Childhood Free from Alcohol Marketing

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has warned that the marketing of alcohol to children can have a long-term impact on their health, affecting their right to life, survival and development. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), now incorporated into Scots law, the Scottish Government has a duty to uphold every child’s right to the highest attainable standard of health. Protecting children and young people from alcohol marketing is a vital part of fulfilling that duty.

Children and young people have the right to be heard and have their views taken seriously.

Children and young people in Scotland recognise how highly visible and heavily marketed alcohol is and are calling for action on marketing.

• In 2019, members of Scotland’s Children’s Parliament (aged 9-11) called for adverts to be removed so that children cannot see them and for alcohol to be less visible in shops.
• In 2020, the Young Scot Health Panel (aged 14-25) recommended mandatory controls on alcohol marketing, including restrictions on alcohol advertising on TV, in cinemas and in public places.
• The majority of the children and young people who shared their views in 2022-23 as part of Children in Scotland’s youth engagement project on alcohol marketing in Scotland generally supported restricting alcohol advertising.

Read our briefing on Protecting Children and Young People from Alcohol Marketing

 

Support our campaign

Urgent action is needed now. Two years have passed from when the Scottish Government first consulted on alcohol advertising and promotion in 2023. 

Please support our campaign to protect future generations of children and young people from the problems associated with alcohol marketing by signing up to our campaign statement:

Your support will help highlight the importance of protecting our children from alcohol marketing, putting children’s right to health over industry profit.

Contact us to pledge your support

 

 

Find out more

• Alcohol Marketing Expert Network: Realising Our Rights: How to protect people from alcohol marketing
• Guest blog from campaign supporter Diabetes Scotland on the importance of restricting alcohol marketing

 

Official Campaign Partners