White Teens Take Smoking Cues from the Movies

More evidence of the influence of the media on young people:

White teenagers who are the most avid watchers of R-rated movies or who have television sets in their bedrooms are more than twice as likely to take up smoking compared with white teens who don't, according to a report published today.

Experts said the study confirmed Hollywood's pervasive influence by showing that even when other risk factors — such as peer smoking — were taken into account, media exposure remained a powerful force on white children.