Young audiences exposed to more smoking in US movies

A new study shows that tobacco use in US-released movies aimed at young people rose sharply between 2010 and 2016.

During the period, 46 percent of films with smoking imagery were youth-rated.

This amounted to 210 of the 459 top-grossing films. And in movies rated PG-13, the number of incidents of smoking surged from 564 to 809.

Young people are more likely to start smoking early with exposure to smoking imagery on screen.

This is a public health concern, the authors said, and could lead more young people to start smoking.

A 2012 US Surgeon General’s report concluded that depictions of smoking in movies cause young people to start smoking.

It also notes that young people who are heavily exposed to images onscreen of smoking are two to three times as likely to begin smoking as youth who receive little exposure.

(CGTN)