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• Study examines movie smoking exposure and team sport participation in youth established smoking 

Participating in team sports is associated with a reduced likelihood of youths becoming established smokers, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, exposure to movie smoking appears to be associated with an increased risk of established smoking in both team sport participants and nonparticipants.

Past studies suggest that there is a direct association between movie smoking exposure and youth smoking initiation, with 30 percent to 50 percent of adolescents' smoking initiation attributed to movie smoking exposure, according to background information in the article. "Movie smoking exposure appears to increase the risk of smoking initiation by enhancing adolescents' perceived benefits of smoking and making them more susceptible to peer influences," the authors write.

Anna M. Adachi-Mejia, Ph.D., of Hood Center for Children and Families, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, N.H., and colleagues analyzed data from school- and telephone-based surveys

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