BMA calls for ban on smoking images that “keep the habit cool” among children

The BMA has called on the UK governments to introduce a raft of tough measures to protect young people from the positive images of smoking seen regularly in films and magazines and on television.

Film censors should have to take account of a movie’s pro-smoking content when deciding on its classification, the BMA recommends. And it should be a legal requirement that all films and television programmes that portray positive images of smoking be preceded by an advertisement against smoking.

The BMA believes that these and other policies could help to make the United Kingdom free of tobacco by 2035.

Most people who smoke start before the age of 18, and virtually all smokers start by the age 25, which makes young people a key target in the tobacco industry’s marketing strategies, says the BMA’s report on the influence of smoking imagery on young people.

It blames the fact that many children continue to take up smoking on the wide prevalence of pro-smoking images in the media, which help “keep the habit ‘cool’, despite its addictiveness.”

“The long term trends for people quitting have slowed down in recent years, so it is essential that further action is taken to promote a tobacco-free lifestyle that deglamorises smoking,” said Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA.

Surveys show that in 2006 nearly one in 10 (9%) of 11 to 15 year olds smoked regularly. This percentage rose to 20% of 16 to19 year olds and 31% of 20 to 34 year olds.

Dr Nathanson said that the media are littered with images that link smoking with success and power, whether it is a newspaper photograph of a celebrity holding a cigarette or films such as Independence Day, in which actor Will Smith lights a cigar every time he kills an alien.

Research indicates that although young people take away positive messages about smoking when they see its portrayal in films, these are significantly diminished if the film is preceded by an anti-smoking advertisement.

The report also recommends a licensing system to restrict the number of shops allowed to sell tobacco. In addition, tobacco products should have plain packaging, with only the health warning visible, and be kept under the counter, it says. Vending machines should be banned, and minimum prices for cigarettes and other tobacco products should be set.

“We all have a role to play in protecting children and young people,” said Dr Nathanson, “and the UK governments must act now to introduce policies that will limit young people’s exposure to pro-smoking imagery, thereby helping to prevent a new generation falling victim to tobacco addiction.”