Ads make kids light up

Cigarette marketing in retail stores increases the likelihood that teens will try smoking or become regular smokers, a new study says.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago analyzed data from surveys of 26 301 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students in 966 US communities and also looked at cigarette marketing in those communities.

The researchers found that cigarette display advertising in retail stores appears to be associated with teens experimenting with smoking, and price cuts and promotions (such as coupons and gifts with purchase) may be linked with the teens' transition to regular smoking.

Based on the estimates in their study, the researchers predicted that an absence of cigarette adverting in stores would lead to an 11 percent decline in the number of teens who experiment with smoking, and a 13 percent drop in the number of current established teen smokers.

Less ads, less smoking
"Overall, our results provide evidence that restricting point-of-sale advertising will discourage youth from trying smoking, and policies that increase cigarette prices and/or restrict price-based promotions will have a long-term positive impact by preventing youth from moving further along the smoking uptake continuum toward regular smoking," the study authors concluded.

The study is published in the May issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. – (HealthDayNews)

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May 2007