Movie smoking influences teen smoking

Dartmouth, N.H. -- Exposure to smoking in movies appears to be linked with teens' risk of becoming established smokers, a U.S. study found.

Dr. James D. Sargent of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, N.H., and colleagues surveyed 6,522 U.S. adolescents ages 10 to 14 about their smoking and movie-watching habits in 2003.

The researchers coded displays of smoking in 532 hit movies in the five years prior to the survey, then asked the teens if they had seen a random selection of 50 of these movies. Follow-up interviews to assess smoking status were done after eight months, 16 months and two years.

At the beginning of the study, 5,637, or 90 percent, of the teens had never smoked, while 33 had smoked more than 100 cigarettes. By the 2-year follow-up survey, 125 of the participants had become established smokers.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found

adolescents who were below the midpoint of movie smoking exposure were less likely than teens who were above the midpoint to have smoked more than 100 cigarettes.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.