Less Lighting Up in Movies Aimed at Kids For fifth straight
year, fewer characters are smoking in youth-oriented films,
study finds THURSDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- The number of
films that children are likely to see that include smoking has
dropped for the fifth straight year, a new report finds.
Overall, there has been a nearly 72 percent drop since 2005 in
smoking depictions in movies rated G, PG or PG-13 -- from 2,093
incidents of onscreen smoking to 595 in 2010. In addition, the
average number of smoking incidents in youth-rated films dropped
more than 66 percent -- from about 20 percent in 2005 to 6.8
percent in 2010. "This study shows that studios know how to
eliminate smoking from youth-rated movies and have nothing to
fear from a policy requiring them to do so," said Vince
Willmore, a spokesman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
"The Motion Picture Association of America should move quickly
to adopt a policy requiring an R-rating for any movie that
depicts smoking that is not in a historica