Jump to full article: AAP (Australian Associated Press) (au), 2000-12-13
Intro: The Queensland Cancer Fund said 10,000 school children had started smoking statewide in the last three years.
A survey by Education Queensland had found 65,000 children were now classed as regular smokers, with a dramatic increase among year 11 and 12 students, QCF executive director Graeme Brien said.
Studies in the United States had found that children responded positively to smoking in movies and Mr Brien said there was evidence that Australian children reacted in a similar way.
"A major contributing factor is the glamorous portrayal of smoking in the movies," he told AAP.
"It gives the impression that it's normal and socially acceptable." . .
But the news from the 1999 survey of 2,000 Queensland school children was not all bad, with the trend in smoking uptake rates among 12 to 15 year olds steady at 17 per cent, a figure which the QCF regarded as still too high.
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