Published online May 1, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 No. 5 May 2008, pp. 1074 (doi:10.1542/peds.2008-0128)

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A Coalition of the Film Industry and Public Health Leaders

Sonika Bhatnagar, MD, MPH
Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, MA 02215

To the Editor.—

I commend the authors of the article "Longitudinal Study of Viewing Smoking in Movies and Initiation of Smoking by Children"¹ for their initiative to demonstrate this relationship. However, it would be remiss not to include the recent historical events between the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and our public health leaders.

In October 2006, Dan Glickman, the new chairman and CEO of the MPAA, took the unprecedented action of writing a letter to the State Attorneys General indicating that the MPAA would seek recommendations from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) regarding the behavioral influence of smoking in films on youth.² In December 2006, he requested that Dean Barry R. Bloom of the HSPH give a scientific presentation to a meeting of 16 major studios and guilds, including the MPAA.³ On February 23, 2007, Dean Bloom along with Associate Dean Jay Winsten of the HSPH and Dr Jonathan Samet of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health presented the following unified message: "Take substantive and effective action to eliminate the depiction of tobacco smoking from films accessible to children and youths, and take leadership and credit for doing so."²

Although no definitive policy has yet been established by the MPAA, the significance of this meeting was monumental. A joint coalition between the film industry and public health leaders could not only lead to a policy of banning smoking in films but also create momentum to address other public health issues such as the impact of violence in films on youth.

One impetus for behavioral change lies in the ability to shift societal norms. I hope that, as practitioners, we continue to support our public health leaders in this effort. Beyond the scope of the film industry, I encourage you to actively contact your state legislators to pass legislation that bans smoking in all public and work places, including restaurants and bars, if that law is not already present in your state. Smoking is the single-most preventable cause of premature death in the United States,⁴ and in the words of President Lyndon B. Johnson, "a genuinely free society cannot be a spectator society."⁵

REFERENCES

1. Titus-Ernstoff L, Dalton MA, Adachi-Mejia AM, Longacre MR, Beach ML. Longitudinal study of viewing smoking in movies and initiation of smoking by children. Pediatrics. 2008;121 (1):15 –21[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Bloom BR. Addressing the issues of "directorial freedom" and "academic freedom" [presentations to the Motion Picture Association of America on smoking in the movies]. Available at: www.hsph.harvard.edu/mpaa/bloom_conclusion.pdf. Accessed January 12, 2008
3. Harvard School of Public Health. Presentations to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on smoking in the movies. Available at: www.hsph.harvard.edu/mpaa. Accessed January 12, 2008
4. American Cancer Society. Tobacco and cancer. Available at: www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/PED_10.asp. Accessed November 21, 2007
5. Johnson LB. White House Fellows. Available at: www.whitehouse.gov/fellows/about/history.html. Accessed January 12, 2008

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PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2008 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bhatnagar, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bhatnagar, S. Related Collections Office Practice Social Bookmarking                         What's this?