American researchers say that youths who watch movies showing cigarette-smoking characters are more likely to start smoking themselves.
The lead author of the study, issued in Pediatrics on Monday, said that smoking itself influences the teenagers to turn to cigarettes.
"I really think it's a 'cool' factor. The more they see it, the more they start to see ways that (smoking) might make them seem more movie stars," said Hames Sargent, from the Geisei School of Medicine at Dartmouth, New Hampshire.
The researchers counted the number of scenes in which characters were smoking in each of more than 500 box-office hits from recent years. The researchers then asked some 6,500 US children between 10 to 14 years of age which of a random selection of 50 of those films they had watched.
Sargent and his colleagues said that the average dose of on-screen smoking was 275 scenes from movies rated PG-13 and 93 scenes from R movies. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, a PG-13 rated movie may be inappropriate for children under 13, and that children under 17 must be accompanied by an adult for watching an R rating film.
In three interviews, the youths who had watched movies involving heavy-smoking characters were more likely to turn to smoking themselves. For every extra 500 smoking scenes, the youths were 33 to 49 percent more likely to try cigarettes over the next two years.
"At this point, it is established that exposure to smoking in movies is a potent risk factor for actually taking up smoking, especially when the exposures are early," said Brian Primack, head of the Program for Research on Media and Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"This study goes a step further and suggests that taking smoking out of all PG-13 movies could have a palpable effect on the impact of smoking in the US," Primack added.(Press TV)
The lead author of the study, issued in Pediatrics on Monday, said that smoking itself influences the teenagers to turn to cigarettes.
"I really think it's a 'cool' factor. The more they see it, the more they start to see ways that (smoking) might make them seem more movie stars," said Hames Sargent, from the Geisei School of Medicine at Dartmouth, New Hampshire.
The researchers counted the number of scenes in which characters were smoking in each of more than 500 box-office hits from recent years. The researchers then asked some 6,500 US children between 10 to 14 years of age which of a random selection of 50 of those films they had watched.
Sargent and his colleagues said that the average dose of on-screen smoking was 275 scenes from movies rated PG-13 and 93 scenes from R movies. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, a PG-13 rated movie may be inappropriate for children under 13, and that children under 17 must be accompanied by an adult for watching an R rating film.
In three interviews, the youths who had watched movies involving heavy-smoking characters were more likely to turn to smoking themselves. For every extra 500 smoking scenes, the youths were 33 to 49 percent more likely to try cigarettes over the next two years.
"At this point, it is established that exposure to smoking in movies is a potent risk factor for actually taking up smoking, especially when the exposures are early," said Brian Primack, head of the Program for Research on Media and Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"This study goes a step further and suggests that taking smoking out of all PG-13 movies could have a palpable effect on the impact of smoking in the US," Primack added.(Press TV)
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
