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On-screen smoking influences children

Respiratory Care Weekly, November 8, 2006

Images of people smoking online, on television, or on the big screen are the single biggest threat to children's health, according to a presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco in late October. The presenters cited three major population studies between 1999-2004, which found a dose-response by adolescents to on-screen smoking in movies and videos: The more smoking children see on screen, the more likely they are to become smokers.

In 2004, 75% of popular G, PG, and PG-13 movies featured smoking. From one-third to one-half of all new young smokers, a total of about 390,000 children each year, are primarily recruited by viewing tobacco use in films and videos, according to the presentation. In an effort to reduce the number of adolescents Hollywood influences to smoke, the leaders of the presentation developed the Smoke Free Movies campaign, which includes giving any movie that shows smoking an R rating.

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