Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jun;19(3):197-200.
doi: 10.1136/tc.2009.034991. Epub 2010 Mar 15.

Exposure to smoking in movies among British adolescents 2001-2006

Affiliations

Exposure to smoking in movies among British adolescents 2001-2006

Stacey J Anderson et al. Tob Control. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate youth exposure to smoking in movies in the UK and compare the likely effect with the USA.

Methods: We collected tobacco occurrences data for 572 top-grossing films in the UK screened from 2001 to 2006 and estimated the number of on-screen tobacco impressions delivered to British youths in this time period.

Results: 91% of films in our sample that contained smoking were youth-rated films (British Board of Film Classification rating '15' and lower), delivering at least 1.10 billion tobacco impressions to British youths during theatrical release. British youths were exposed to 28% more smoking impressions in UK youth-rated movies than American youth-rated movies, because 79% of movies rated for adults in the USA ('R') are classified as suitable for youths in the UK ('15' or '12A').

Conclusion: Because there is a dose-response relation between the amount of on-screen exposure to smoking and the likelihood that adolescents will begin smoking, the fact that there is substantially higher exposure to smoking in youth-rated films in the UK than in the USA suggests that the fraction of all youth smoking because of films in the UK is probably larger than in the USA. Other countries with ratings systems that are less conservative (in terms of language and sexuality) than the USA will also be likely to deliver more on-screen tobacco impressions to youths. Assigning an '18' classification to movies that contain smoking would substantially reduce youth exposure to on-screen smoking and, hence, smoking initiation among British youths.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competiting interests: None.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Charlesworth A, Glantz SA. Smoking in the movies increases adolescent smoking: a review. Pediatrics 2005;116:1516–28 - PubMed
    1. Institute of Medicine Ending the tobacco problem: a blueprint for the nation. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2007
    1. BMA Board of Science Forever cool: the influence of smoking imagery on young people. London: British Medical Association, 2008. http://www.bma.org.uk/images/forevercool_tcm41-169812.pdf
    1. National Cancer Institute Tobacco control monograph 19: the role of the media in promoting and reducing tobacco use. Bethesda, MD: US National Cancer Institute, 2008
    1. Bridge R. Call to restrict smoking scenes. Liverpool: BBC News, 2008. [updated March 16]. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ifs_news/hi/newsid_7298000/7298970.stm (accessed 24 Apr 2009).

Publication types