While the sky is expected to be cloudy, the crowd will be filled with smiles and laughs as the Middlesex-London Health Unit brings Pixar Studios’ summer hit Finding Dory to Victoria Park tonight. Everyone is invited to attend the free Smoke-Free Movie Night, the Health Unit’s fifth such event in the Park, and is encouraged to arrive early with their lawn chairs, blankets and snacks to take part in the activities that begin at 5:00 p.m.
The Health Unit is again joining its One Life One You youth advocacy group and the Canadian Cancer Society in hosting the family-friendly event which aims to increase awareness about how showing smoking in youth-rated movies can have deadly consequences.
“When children and youth see smoking and tobacco use on-screen it can have a very profound effect, increasing the potential that they’ll start smoking themselves. There’s really no reason why these products and activities should be in youth-rated films at all,” says Linda Stobo, Manager of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. “It’s not okay to show tobacco use to kids who are watching the screen so closely, it creates a very real health risk. Finding Dory is one of those great movies that can pull you right into the story without relying on tobacco company marketing to hold audiences captivated from start to finish.”
In addition to the screening of Finding Dory at tonight’s Smoke-Free Movie Night, the evening will feature games, interactive activities, face painting and a family photo booth. All pre-show activities will get underway at 5:00 p.m. with the movie beginning at dusk.
In 2012, the United States’ Surgeon General stated: “the evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and the initiation of smoking among young people.” In 2014, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that giving an R rating to future films that show on-screen tobacco use would be expected to cause a 20% drop in the number of youth smokers and prevent 1 million smoking related deaths.
A 2014 study by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit that looked at exposure to on-screen tobacco use in movies among youth in the province found that 86% of the top-grossing films between 2004 and 2013 were youth-rated in Ontario. The issue has led to a concerted effort by Ontario’s health units to rid youth-rated movies from smoking and tobacco use and to encourage the Ontario Film Review Board to place an 18A rating on all new movies containing tobacco.
Media Contact:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit, 519-663-5317 extension 2469 or 519-617-0570 (cell.)
Spokesperson:
Linda Stobo, Manager of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control