According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the average smoker picked up her first cigarette at age 15. Statistically, it's harder for people to quit smoking if they began before age 21. About 25 percent of all high school students report that they smoke cigarettes, and youth smoking is associated with other high-risk behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use. Several studies suggest that movie portrayal of smoking influences teen tobacco use, according to the Department of Health & Human Services and Medline Plus.
Prevalence
According to a study published in the journal Preventative Medicine, about 87 percent of all movies portray tobacco use. This includes movies marketed for children and teenagers. A major film studio famous for its children's movies accounted for about 23 percent of tobacco use portrayed in film. About 66 percent of children's animated films released between 1937 and 1997 depicted at least one incident of tobacco use.
Character Portrayals
A study published in the journal Pediatrics examined the effect of positive versus negative character portrayal and tobacco use. Researchers found that when a negatively portrayed character, or "bad guy," used tobacco, the influence was more profound on low risk-taking adolescents. This suggests that negative behaviors exhibited by "bad guys" are more appealing to, and therefore emulated by, otherwise low-risk teens. During the two-year span of the study, nearly 16 percent of previous non-smokers who viewed movies portraying smoking tried cigarettes for the first time.
Favorite Stars
Findings from the California Tobacco Survey suggest that teens are more likely to smoke if the characters portrayed by their favorite stars are smokers, compared with non-smoking characters. The study found that in an adolescent's decision to start smoking, celebrities' smoking habits are almost as influential as the smoking habits of friends and family members.
Theories/Speculation
One possible reason for such widespread portrayal of smoking in movies is marketing. Television commercials for cigarettes were banned by legislation in 1969. Tobacco companies had to find new marketing tactics, including display of their product in films. This method of promotion allows tobacco companies to reach a wide audience of potential future customers, according to a 2005 article in the Christian Science Monitor. A survey of multiple smoking studies suggests that about 40 percent of teen smokers were influenced by movies.
Advocacy
Several health and children's advocacy organizations, including the National Parent-Teacher Association and the American Medical Association, have joined forces in the fight to ban smoking portrayal in movies. As a result of their lobbying, several major film studios agreed to include an anti-smoking public service announcement as a feature of DVDs and videos in which characters smoke. Smoking portrayals in top-grossing films dropped by almost half between 2005 and 2010.
References
- Department of Health and Human Services: Sequence of Substance Use Initiation
- MedlinePlus: Smoking and Youth
- "Chest Journal"; Smoking in Movies; Stanton A. Glantz et al; February 2006
- "Adolescent Medicine Clinics"; Smoking in Movies -- Impact on Adolescent Smoking; James D. Sargent, MD; 2005
- "Pediatrics"; Movie Characters Smoking and Adolescent Smoking; Susanne Tanski, M.D. et al; July 2009
- Christian Science Monitor: A Link Between Teen Smoking and Movies?
