Smoking in Top-Grossing Movies—United States, 2010

July 15, 2011 / Vol. 60 / No. 27

MMWR Introduction

The amount of tobacco use depicted in top-grossing, youth-rated movies continued the previously reported downward trend for a fifth straight year. Because adolescents in the top quartile of exposure to onscreen smoking are about twice as likely to try smoking as those in the bottom quartile, this decline in onscreen smoking has important public health implications. In 2010, the total number of onscreen tobacco-use incidents in youth-rated movies declined 71.6% from 2005. Similarly, the average number of incidents per youth-rated movie fell 66.2% from 2005 to 2010. The three major studios with published, written smoking-reduction policies showed an average 95.8% decline in tobacco use depictions from 2005 to 2010. Studios without such a policy had an average 41.7% decline in the same time period.