Icelandic films worst for onscreen smoking

Icelandic films are most likely to depict smoking to youth audiences, according to a new study by BMC Public Health.

The study aims “to describe tobacco and alcohol portrayals in nationally produced films from six European and two Latin American countries, and compare them with US produced films”

A total of 840 films produced in 2004-09 in Argentina, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States were analysed.

It was found that 94% of all films produced in Iceland depicted smoking. All of the films in question had a youth rating and were therefore open to young audiences.

The lowest rate was found in films produced in the Netherlands, i.e. 58% of all films.

According to the report, “[s]tudies have found that exposure to onscreen film smoking promotes adolescent smoking. Similar findings have been found for film alcohol portrayals and adolescent drinking in the US and Europe”.

Legislation on tobacco product placement appears to be key in these findings. Tobacco product placement was banned in the US in 1997 and in the European Union in 2003. The US and some EU countries have among the lowest rates of onscreen smoking in this study.

“As a non-EU member, Iceland was not required to, nor did it, prohibit tobacco product placement in films during the study period,” indicates the study.