Smoking in Movies Persuades Kids
Reported November 8, 2005

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study reveals exposure to movies with people smoking is a primary risk factor in determining whether adolescents will start smoking. It's the first national study to look at the connection.

Researchers from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., asked more than 6,500 adolescents ages 10 to 14 to identify the movies they watched out of a list of 50 films randomly selected from a database of movies released between 1998 and 2000. Of the 532 movies in the database, researchers found examples of smoking in 74 percent. Adolescents were split into four groups based on which movies they had seen and how much smoking was in each of those movies.

Researchers say, of the 100 adolescents who tried smoking, 38 tried it because of exposure to smoking in movies. The results of the study lead investigators to suggest one-third of kids in the United States will start smoking due to exposure to smoking in movies.

James Sargent, M.D., from Dartmouth Medical School, says, "We found that as the amount of exposure to smoking in movies increased, the rate of smoking also increased. Part of the reason that exposure to movie smoking has such a considerable impact on adolescent smoking is because it is a very strong social influence on kids ages 10-14."

The study also revealed Hispanics and blacks were exposed to significantly more smoking in movies than whites, thus increasing the potential impact among minorities. Dr. Sargent says, "As a pediatrician, I think that parents need to become more aware of what their young children watch and make an effort to shield young children from the messages in PG-13 and R rated movies."

The researchers hope the movie industry will voluntarily reduce depictions of smoking and cigarette brands in movies. They say the industry could also include smoking in the movie rating system to make parents aware of the risks smoking in movies can have on their kids.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, 2005;116:1183-1191

Movie Stars Smoking On Screen Encourages Teen Smoking

Excerpts from: Pictures of Puffing Stars Encourages Teen Smoking

By Alison McCook Reuters [06/29/04]

Associated Press - Tuesday, October 18, 2005; Page A18

Watching a favorite movie star smoke appears to encourage teen girls to adopt the habit themselves, according to new findings released Tuesday.

Investigators found that girls who said their favorite celebrity was someone who had smoked in at least two recent movies were almost twice as likely to start smoking within the next three years as girls whose favorite stars did not smoke in films.

"Really, smoking in movies is just an effective form of marketing," study author Dr. John Pierce told Reuters Health.

Pierce, based at the University of California in San Diego, added that it is also common for teens to copy their favorite stars' clothing, hair and jewelry. Those habits are easy to alter as styles evolve, he said, but once teens become hooked on smoking, "that is something that's very hard to change."

Pierce noted that the tobacco industry has argued that it does not pay for actors to smoke on screen, and actors do it simply because it makes them feel more comfortable.

If that is the case, then one could argue that the stars themselves are responsible for encouraging teens to smoke, and should be held accountable for that, Pierce noted.

To investigate whether watching stars smoke on-screen influences teens to do the same, Pierce and his colleagues asked 3104 never-smokers between the ages of 12 and 15 to name their two favorite female stars and two favorite male movie stars.

The researchers reviewed the stars' movies during the past 3 years, and counted them as smokers if they puffed during at least two films. They then re-interviewed teens three years later, to see how many had started smoking.

When Pierce and his team first contacted teens in 1996, the most popular stars among teen girls were Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio. Favorite actors for boys were Pamela Anderson, Sandra Bullock and Demi Moore. More than 40 percent of girls and 30 percent of boys had favorite stars who smoked.

Favorite stars who did not smoke on-screen included Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.

Although girls appeared to be influenced by the smoking habits of favorite stars, boys were not, the authors report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Pierce explained that his team also measured each child's susceptibility to smoking -- defined as being unwilling to rule out the option of future smoking. This removed the possibility that only those who were susceptible to smoking would have a favorite star who smoked on-screen, he said.

Dr. Stanton Glantz of the University of California in San Francisco, who was not an author of the paper, noted that research shows that the more teens see people smoke, the more likely they are to pick up the habit. The latest findings suggest that policymakers should strictly limit teens' exposure to on-screen smoking, he said

click here to view this study from the American Journal of Public Health

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