Abstract
BackgroundStudies that have evaluated tobacco and alcohol portrayals in films have mainly focused on US films. Our aim is 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.MethodsA sample of 337 nationally produced and 502 US produced films, consisting of top grossing films from 2004 to 2009 in each country, was content coded for presence of tobacco or alcohol and seconds of tobacco or alcohol use. Logistic and linear regression models were estimated for all films and youth-rated films (Ages 0–14) to assess cross country differences in tobacco and alcohol content, with US films as the reference category.ResultsDomestically produced films from several countries were more likely than US films to contain any tobacco use both overall (Iceland (OR = 9.29, CI: 1.22–70.89), Italy (OR = 3.58, CI: 1.72–7.43), Argentina (OR = 5.06, CI: 2.13–12.03), Mexico (OR = 4.87, CI: 2.17–10.90)) and for youth-rated films (Germany (OR = 2.24, CI: 1.21–4.16), Iceland (OR = 13.79, CI: 1.80–105.5), Italy (OR = 5.31, CI: 2.54–11.1), and Argentina (OR = 6.9, CI: 0.88–1.34)). Models for alcohol showed few differences compared to US, regardless of rating.Linear regression models for seconds of use in films with tobacco indicated that only Argentine films had more seconds of smoking than US films, regardless of the rating category. For films with alcohol use, Mexican films had higher seconds of alcohol use than US films.ConclusionsSmoking was more commonly depicted in films produced outside the US, however there were few differences in the means for smoking screen time in films that contained smoking. This may be partly explained by the prohibition of tobacco product placement in the US. Countries should consider banning paid placement of both products and eliminating subsidies for films with content that promotes tobacco and alcohol use.
Highlights
Studies that have evaluated tobacco and alcohol portrayals in films have mainly focused on United States (US) films
Tobacco When comparing the percentage of films with tobacco across all countries, the Netherlands had the lowest percentage of films with tobacco (58 % of all films; 53 % of youth-rated films) and Icelandic films had the highest (94 % of all films, all youth rated)
Mean seconds of tobacco use in movies that contained tobacco were compared for all countries
Summary
Studies that have evaluated tobacco and alcohol portrayals in films have mainly focused on US films. Because nationally-produced films may both have a greater effect on youth risk behaviors and be easier to regulate, it is important to monitor their content. Studies in Europe [5, 17] and Mexico [11, 12] have assessed the effects of youth exposure to tobacco imagery in both USand nationally-produced films; these studies have not reported on the extent of alcohol or tobacco content in nationally-produced films. Further research on nationally-produced films is necessary to inform policy actions to limit youth exposures to film portrayals of tobacco and alcohol, including policies prohibiting brand appearances and subsidies that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends [22] and that would have a greater influence on national film production than on the production of imported films, including Hollywood films
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
