Clearing the on-screen air

Anti-tobacco advocates step up the effort to ensure that movies don't glorify smoking for young viewers.

Editorial. Nov. 27, 2006.

What do movies like "Click," "X-men: The Last Stand" and "A Prairie Home Companion" have in common? They were all recently in theaters and are now finding an even bigger audience on DVD. They all feature Hollywood stars who appeal to young people -- between them these movies feature Adam Sandler, Halle Barry and Lindsay Lohan. They all are rated PG-13. And they all project images of cigarette smoking.

It's that last fact that public health officials and anti-tobacco advocates would like to reverse.

According to the Smokefree Movies Action Network, these are just a few recent examples -- 75%of PG-13 rated films and 40% of those rated G and PG include images of smoking.

The figures are particularly problematic when combined with other findings. Researchers from the Dartmouth Medical School and Norris Cotton Cancer Center conducted a landmark 2003 study and a follow-up that was published last year in Pediatrics and suggested that movie smoking accounts for smoking initiation among more than one-third of U.S. teens. They conclude that limiting the amount of such images seen by young people could have important public health implications. The World Health Organization also found a direct relationship between children's exposure to tobacco use via the big screen and lighting up for the first time. And of course, for some, this puff will become a habit.

That's where the Screen Out! campaign comes in. Launched in July, the initiative -- an effort of the Smokefree Movies Action Network -- is backed by the American Medical Association and a number of other public health organizations. Its goal is to eliminate smoking from youth-rated films. And physicians, both as health professionals and, often, as parents, should embrace it.