Study Finds Youth-Oriented Movies Have Less Smoking

The Associated Press reported this week that a new study determined three top-grossing film companies have drastically reduced smoking in their movies aimed at children and teens, thanks, in part, to their policies to reduce on-screen tobacco use.

The study, funded by Legacy, an anti-tobacco non-profit group, was conducted by and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was published in its “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.” The study found that during the past five years, scenes involving tobacco dropped from an average of 23 to one per film for those companies and most of their youth movies had no smoking at all. Youth-rated films were the focus of the study.

Researchers looked at the three companies with policies to reduce smoking: Time Warner (Warner Bros.); Comcast (Universal and Focus Features); and the Walt Disney Company (Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, Pixar and Buena Vista.) Tobacco scenes declined by about 96 percent in those companies' films over the last five years, and most of the youth-rated films had no smoking at all.

For film companies without policies, the number of tobacco incidents dropped by 42 percent. More than 40 percent of their youth-rated films still have tobacco. Those companies include: News Corp. (20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight); Sony (Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures); and Viacom (Paramount Pictures, MTV Films and Marvel). Some independent film companies were also analyzed.

At least part of the decline happened before policies were in place, and outside pressure and cultural changes may have played a role, researchers noted.

"We know that it's not a hardship for the companies. These movies can continue to be successful and sell tickets," said one of the study authors, Ursula E. Bauer, PhD, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.

Multiple studies indicate a causal relationship between exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and youth smoking initiation. The 2010 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services strategic plan to reduce tobacco use includes reducing youth exposure to onscreen smoking.