The researchers are from Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and their study appears in the July issue of Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute.
"We want pediatricians to talk with parents of adolescents about how movies can influence their young teenagers," says James Sargent, a pediatrician with the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and an associate professor at Dartmouth Medical School. "Parents need to know that if they can reduce their child's exposure to smoking in movies, it may have a profound impact on reducing their chances of starting to smoke and drink."
Sargent's team studies adolescent behavior and how it's linked to exposure to movies. They have published numerous papers and articles, which this most current study cites.
According to this body of research, adolescents see thousands of depictions of smoking by movie stars, and these images influence their attitude and behavior.
Now, Sargent and his colleagues urge pediatricians to use the published data (see "Related Findings" below) to offer specific advice to parents on how to limit access to movies, such as reducing subscriptions to movie channels, limiting videos to one per week, and restricting access to R-rated movies.
They conclude that, "Such parenting measures could reduce rates of adolescent smoking without directly addressing the behavior."
Related Findings:
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine