Pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic beverages: results of an exploratory study
Résumé
Study objectives:
Some countries display warnings and pictograms on alcoholic beverages to prevent pregnant women to
drink alcohol. This research aims to explore the impact on French women of different format and content
for these messages.
Methods and material:
In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women of different profiles: pregnant women that did or did
not drink alcohol, women in pregnancy planning that drink alcohol and breastfeeding mothers. They were
exposed to different warnings (displayed on real bottles): the French current pictogram, new warning
contents on risks (general or specific ones), alcohol help services and new designs (different size and colour
for pictograms). They were asked questions on the perceived effectiveness and impact of these different
warnings. A thematic analysis was carried out.
Results:
Results showed that the French current pictogram lacks visibility and has no impact on alcohol behaviours.
New contents were welcomed in general. Some participants perceived specific messages on risks (e.g.
intellectual disabilities, facial malformations) as an effective way of preventing alcohol consumption during
pregnancy than general warnings, while others considered that a more general message would be more
relevant. Help services messages were appreciated by most people. Regarding format, a majority of
participants judged new pictograms -especially the red one with a vivid image of a fetus- more eye-catching
and more effective to influence alcohol consumption of pregnant women.
Conclusion:
This study highlights that the pictogram currently used in France and in other countries (the UK, Australia,
Mexico, Turkey, etc.) should be changed.