title: Alcohol advertising at Boston subway stations: an assessment of exposure by race and socioeconomic status.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the frequency of alcohol ads at all 113 subway and streetcar stations in Boston and the patterns of community exposure stratified by race, socioeconomic status, and age.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the extent of alcohol advertising at each station in May 2009. We measured gross impressions and gross rating points (GRPs) for the entire Greater Boston population and for Boston public school student commuters. We compared the frequency of alcohol advertising between neighborhoods with differing demographics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the Greater Boston population, alcohol advertising at subway stations generated 109 GRPs on a typical day. For Boston public school students in grades 5 to 12, alcohol advertising at stations generated 134 GRPs. Advertising at stations in low-poverty neighborhoods generated 14.1 GRPs and at stations in high-poverty areas, 63.6 GRPs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol ads reach the equivalent of every adult in the Greater Boston region and the equivalent of every 5th- to 12th-grade public school student each day. More alcohol ads were displayed in stations in neighborhoods with high poverty rates than in stations in neighborhoods with low poverty rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. gentry.lisa@gmail.com
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gentry
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.forename: Tiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Siphannay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nhean
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nyborn
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siegel
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D001515:Beer; D001900:Boston; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011890:Railroads / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors