Movies provoke smoking in children

Children who play team sports are less likely than their peers to smoke, but sports cannot beat the influence of movies.

Pervious studies have found that media images of smoking may encourage children to smoke later in life. To examine the effects of smoking exposure in media and sports participation on smoking habits in teens, researchers studied 2,048 American children aged 9 to 14 years. The researchers took account of the movies these children had seen. Their participation in team sports was assessed after seven years when they were around 16 and 21 years old.

At follow-up, it was found that 353 participants were established smokers. Only four per cent of those with the least exposure to on-screen smoking were smokers themselves - versus 23 per cent of their counterparts who had seen the most on-screen smoking. While children involved in team sports were less likely to smoke, they still appeared to be influenced by movies.

These findings suggest that the influence of movies may undo some of the positive effects of team sports. The researchers recommended prohibiting smoking in youth-oriented movies, or giving an A rating to movies that showed actors smoking.