ACCORDING to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, watching movie stars light up on screen is the biggest single factor in influencing teenagers to smoke.
According to the research, children are more likely to smoke if their favourite actor smokes. The study began by recruiting over 2,600 US schoolchildren aged 10 to 14 who had never smoked. Each child was then asked if he had watched any of 50 movies randomly selected from 601 box-office hits released between 1988 and 1999. The number of occurrences of smoking in each film was recorded by trained people.
When followed up one to two years later, 10 per cent of the children had tried smoking. Those in the top quarter of exposure to movie smoking were 2.7 times more likely to have tried a cigarette than those in the lowest quarter of exposure.
This effect was independent of other factors that might influence a child’s smoking behaviour, such as friends of family smoking. Previous studies have suggested that smoking in movies influences adolescent smoking behaviour, but this is the first study to show that viewing smoking in movies indicates who will start smoking in the future.
India has banned smoking scenes in movies. According to the new regulations of the health ministry, distributors and directors will have to show health warnings in the form of prominent scrolls on screens in old movies and TV shows, whether Indian or foreign, that show actors smoking.
This legislation is of prime importance for a country like India where one in every two males uses tobacco, while use among women varies from region to region from between two to 21 per cent. It is also alarming to know that Indians account for over 90 per cent of the world’s oral cancer patients, as reported by a news agency.
Smoking scenes in Pakistani movies, drama serials, cable TV programmes, DVDs, and videos are on the rise. Each new play being aired exposes more and more viewers of all age groups to smoking. Some scenes are subtle, with no cigarette but only smoke shown. Other scenes are quite direct where actors are shown relaxing and smoking with style. The duration of such scenes is also increasing. Previously, the average length of smoking scenes was about 10 to 15 seconds. Now over 30 to 45-second scenes have been incorporated.
Based on the above study, and the fact that tobacco use among our people is no different than in India, more and more of our children can be influenced by smoking scenes in our media. Before the situation reaches alarming proportions, the authorities are requested to look into this issue and take corrective action.
It is also pertinent to mention here that many companies that concentrate on community service can easily help reduce the number of smoking scenes in our programming by simply not sponsoring such drama serials. There are many ad watch companies that can participate in this activity by providing timely reporting of smoking scenes to their respective clients so that they may question the advertising agencies and production houses accordingly.
Source : https://www.dawn.com/news/1068115
DAWN Letters August 1, 2005
ONE couldn’t agree more with Mr Ahmer N. Jakartawala on the issue of smoking scenes on TV and in films (July 23). Research into why youngsters take up smoking has clearly shown that young people are especially vulnerable to the glamorous images of smoking portrayed in TV plays and films. Once PTV had a policy of not showing smoking scenes in its drama serials and plays but ever since restrictions were placed on airing tobacco ads on TV there has been a substantial increase in smoking scenes on not just PTV but also on all private TV channels operating in Pakistan. One is sure the tobacco industry in Pakistan is behind this trend.
Instead, the TV channels should be encouraged to show programmes highlighting the serious health hazards of tobacco which kills over 100,000 people every year in Pakistan alone.
PROF JAVAID KHAN
Karachi
Source : https://www.dawn.com/news/1068147