Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Elgin St Thomas Public Health
Health Unit Hosts Smoke-Free Movie Event at Pinafore Park
According to a recent report released by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit the amount of smoking in Ontario youth-rated films (G, PG, 14A) has remained high over the ten nine years, despite the growing body of research that shows smoking in movies influences young people to smoke. To help educate the public about the issue Elgin St.Thomas Public Health will be holding a smoke-free movies night on August 29th, 2014. The movie night will feature FROZEN. The movie is smoke-free and shows that movies do not need to contain smoking in order to successful or entertaining.
“Frozen is a wonderful example of how a great movie does not require smoking characters to create drama or character dynamics. It is a proven award winner.” Says Jessica Austin, Health Promoter with Elgin St.Thomas Public Health.
According the Ontario Tobacco Research report released in May 2014, over the last past decade, 57 per cent (818 of the 1434) top-grossing movies released in Ontario featured tobacco, of which 86 per cent (701 of 818) were rated suitable for children and teens through a G, PG or 14A rating. This is a serious issue as the research clearly indicates that the more youth see smoking in movies the more likely they are to start smoking.
Today research on this topic is so strong that in 2012 the U.S. Surgeon General’s report concluded there is a clear link between watching movies and kids starting to smoke. This fact was echoed again in 2014 in the 50th anniversary Surgeon General’s report.
Tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Ontario with more than 13,000 Ontarians dying each year, which equates to 36 people a day. For more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/movies/index.htm.
Media Contact:
Jessica Austin
519-631-9900
estph@elginhealth.on.ca
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