Families from across the Strathroy-Caradoc area can catch some late summer fun at Strathroy’s Fair Grounds Recreation Complex this Friday with a free, smoke-free, outdoor screening of DreamWorks’ Angry Birds. Activities, including games, face painting, a family photo booth and more get underway at 5:00 p.m. with the film set to start at dusk. Because it does not show any on-screen tobacco use, Angry Birds, like previously shown Smoke-Free Movie Night films, is an ideal movie for the whole family.

This is the second time the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc and the Health Unit’s One Life One You youth advocacy group, have worked together to host a Smoke-Free Movie Night in the community. The main message of the event is that it is not okay to show smoking and tobacco use in youth-rated films. While tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease, most films that show it do not clearly reflect the real dangers and consequences of that tobacco use.

“The smoking we see in movies happens at a much higher rate than it does in real life, which is a major concern for us because many of those films are rated for children and youth, and when they see tobacco use onscreen it increases the risk they’ll start smoking,” says Jacquie Uprichard, Health Promoter with the Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control Team. “To protect our youth, and to prevent a new generation of smokers, we are asking that all future motion pictures that show any tobacco use be given a rating of 18A.”

A recent study that analyzed exposure to onscreen tobacco use in top-grossing movies released between 2004 and 2013 found that 86% of films depicting tobacco use were youth-rated in Ontario. Additional research data has shown that the more children and youth see smoking and tobacco use in movies, the more likely they are to start using tobacco products themselves. Because of the significant link between exposure to on-screen images of tobacco use and the increased risk of uptake, health units across Ontario have been calling on political leaders to change the Film Classisifaction Act so that all new movies showing tobacco use get an adult rating of 18A.

For this Friday’s Smoke-Free Movie Night, the current Environment Canada forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 25ºC and an overnight low of 14 ºC. Families planning to attend are encouraged to arrive early to take part in all the activities, to dress warmly and to bring lawn chairs and blankets. In the event of poor weather, the Smoke-Free Movie Night will be moved indoors to the West Middlesex Memorial Centre Arena located at 334 Metcalfe Street West.

Media Contact:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit, 519-663-5317 extension 2469 or 519-617-0570 (cell.)

Spokesperson:
Jacquie Uprichard, Health Promoter, Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control