Restricted Movie Ratings May Decrease Teen Smoking Onset

For the first time, new research indicates the impact of an R rating for movie smoking.

According to James Sargent, MD, codirector of the Cancer Control Research Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, an R rating for any film with characters smoking could considerably diminish smoking onset in US adolescents. “Hollywood plays a role by making smoking look really good,” says Sargent. “By eliminating smoking in movies marketed to youth, an R rating for smoking would dramatically reduce exposure and lower adolescent smoking by as much as one-fifth.”

The study, “Influence of Motion Picture Rating on Adolescent Response to Movie Smoking,” measured movie smoking exposure (MSE) among 6522 US adolescents in a longitudinal survey conducted at 8-month intervals. From 532 recent hit movies, MSE was estimated and categorized into 3 of the ratings brackets used by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate films by content – G/PG, PG-13, and R. Compared to the median MSE from R-rated films, the median MSE from PG-13 movies was approximately 3 times higher. Yet, their relation to smoking was essentially the same. With all else being equal, the researchers were able to demonstrate that adolescent smoking would be reduced by 18% if smoking in PG-13 movies was largely eliminated.

“The equivalent effect of PG-13-rated and R-rated MSE suggests it is the movie smoking that prompts adolescents to smoke, not other characteristics of R-rated movies or adolescents drawn to them,” the study concludes.

“We’re just asking the movie industry to take smoking as seriously as they take profanity when applying the R rating,” comments Sargent, who is also professor of pediatrics at The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “The benefit to society in terms of reduced healthcare costs and higher quality of life is almost incalculable.”

Source: Dartmouth-Hitchcock.