No Screen Out on the Silver Screen MPAA Fails to Address Youth Exposure to Smoking in Movies amidst New Research Hollywood's light won't be fading anytime soon. A May 10 announcement from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the organization responsible for rating films, stated that the organization would "consider smoking" when rating movies. This statement comes alongside recent research, co-funded by the American Legacy Foundation® and published in the journal, Pediatrics and research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which confirm the deluge of tobacco/smoking impressions to which youth are exposed. The evidence presented by these studies show that U.S. films deliver billions of smoking impressions to American youth, ages 10-14—the ages at which youth are most likely to begin experimenting with cigarettes—as well as influence youth smoking initiation abroad. According to the American Legacy Foundation®, the MPAA's statement falls short of an essential step needed to prevent youth from smoking and fails to implement the meaningful recommendations issued by researchers and public health organizations. "This announcement is wholly inadequate and will cost many lives," said Legacy's President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. P.H. "Since more than 80 percent of smokers start before turning 18, youth exposure to smoking in youth rated movies is a vital concern for our nation's health." The American Legacy Foundation's call for change is supported by the latest research on tobacco use depictions in movies. Researchers from Dartmouth Medical School found that while R-rated films delivered the majority of smoking occurrences, they accounted for a lower proportion of smoking impressions (39 percent) on youth than PG-13 movies (50 percent). This research published in Pediatrics, further states that an R-rating for smoking would guarantee that movies intended for youth audiences would be smoke-free, potentially decreasing exposure by 60 percent. A recent study out of Germany verified that overseas audiences are also seeing pervasive smoking in film. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that teens that had seen the most smoking in movies (primarily U.S. movies) were twice as likely to have tried smoking as those who saw the least amount—results that mirror findings in the U.S. The researchers also determined that smoking in internationally-distributed films is associated with current smoking among German adolescents. The recent findings bolster the recommendations of numerous members of the nation's public health community. Parent, youth and public health groups, including Legacy, the American Medical Association, the AMA Alliance and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have been arguing for a revamped, evidence-based rating system. Under the proposed rating system, any new movie with on-screen smoking would receive an R rating; a step research has shown would reduce youth exposure to smoking images. Several of the MPAA's key factual statements are at odds with independent research on this subject. According to the University of California-San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, between 2004 and 2006 only 42 percent of movies that depicted smoking were R rated. The MPAA claimed 75 percent for the same time period. Additionally, quoting the 2006 Monitoring the Future Study, the MPAA stated that "the percent of smoking during a monthly period was down about 60%, 50%, and 40% in grades eight, ten and twelve, respectively." However, this was a comparison made to youth smoking rates in the mid-1990s, when rates were at a peak. Further discrepancies undermine the MPAA's argument. The MPAA makes the general claim that "parents are very clear to us that they — not the industry and certainly not the government — should determine what is appropriate viewing for their kids." However, a February survey from Mississippi State University and the American Medical Association Alliance indicates that 81 percent of adults in the United States agree adolescents are more likely to smoke if they watch actors smoke in movies, and 70 percent support an R-rating for any new movies with on-screen tobacco imagery, unless the film clearly demonstrates the dangers of smoking. A rating system which reflects the concerns of parents, researchers and public health groups is integral for curtailing youth smoking rates and consequently saving lives.