Does tobacco advertising target young people to start smoking? evidence from California

Article Abstract:

In spite of evidence that 90 percent of adults who recently began smoking started before they were 18 years old, the tobacco industry and its advertisers deny that advertising encourages adolescents to use tobacco products. Recent developments in Canada, where a law banning all tobacco advertising was overturned, highlight the need to show conclusively that such advertising clearly encourages young people to smoke. This study evaluates the effects of advertising among people under 18 years of age. It compares data from the California Tobacco Surveys (CTS), sponsored by the state Department of Health, with data from the Adult Use of Tobacco Survey (AUTS), a national study carried out in 1986. Telephone interviews were conducted with 24,296 adults (smokers and former smokers) and 5,040 teenagers (aged 12 through 17 years). Questions concerned the brand smoked and, in the CTS studies, the brand perceived as most often advertised. Among adults, 33.6 percent identified Marlboro as the most advertised brand and 13.7 percent identified Camel as the most frequently advertised. Corresponding rates among teenagers were 41.8 percent and 28.5 percent, respectively. Camel was the brand most often named in this regard by 12- to 13-year-olds (34.2 percent). Preference patterns reflected similar trends, with Marlboro and Camel dominating the market among adolescent males. The market share for these brands lessened with increasing age. The proportion of smokers who bought these brands was much higher in California in 1990 than in the US in 1986. However, the increase was approximately the same for Marlboro in all age groups, while for Camel, it was predominantly among the younger smokers. The evidence suggests that tobacco advertising targets young people differentially, and that the market share of Camel has increased considerably since its ''smooth character'' campaign began in 1988. New smokers are being influenced to smoke these brands and advertising can be said to cause addiction to cigarettes among young people. Cigarette advertising should be banned in electronic and other media. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Marketing, Children, Demographic aspects, Smoking and youth, Youth smoking

---

A comparison of smoking patterns in the People's Republic of China with the United States: an impending health catastrophe in the Middle Kingdom

Article Abstract:

While the level of smoking in the US has fallen in the years since the Surgeon General issued his report on smoking, the level of smoking in China has increased. During the years 1976 to 1986 half of the net global increase in tobacco use occurred within the People's Republic of China. The smoking rate in China today is similar to that in the United States during the 1950s. Sixty-one percent of Chinese males over the age of 15 now smoke. Based on these statistics, China can expect to experience an epidemic of smoking-related illness and death far into the next century. Given the current smoking rate, and known statistics of smoking-related illness, it is estimated that by 2025, two million Chinese men will succumb annually to smoking. The beginnings of that epidemic are already being seen. In 1957 the urban rate for tumors, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular disease was 36.9, 47.2 and 39.0 cases per 100,000, respectively. When these same rates were determined in 1984, the respective levels had climbed to 116.8, 124.64 and 116.27. In the industrial city of Shanghai, lung cancer in men rose from 28.5 per 100,000 in the period 1963-65, to 52 per 100,000 in the period 1976-79. Lung cancer deaths among male Chinese are expected to increase from 30,000 in 1975 to 900,000 in 2025. The reduction of cigarette markets in the West has led to aggressive marketing in other areas of Asia by Western tobacco companies. Western companies have begun billboard and television advertising in China. ''The Marlboro Man'' has been at the center of at least one campaign, and sponsorship of sporting events has become common. At present smoking-control efforts in China are very limited; however, China must engage in a comprehensive anti-smoking campaign if the anticipated health disaster is to be averted. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, China, Smoking

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Lecturing in higher education: a career for self-starters. Working in the community. Bowel management and consent
• Abstracts: Tobacco issues resurface in Europe. FDA subcommittee finds no evidence of PERV transmission. UNAIDS releases long-awaited HIV vaccine guidelines
• Abstracts: Role of Exercise Stress Testing and Safety Monitoring for Older Persons Starting an Exercise Program. Recovery from disability among community-dwelling older persons
• Abstracts: States debate 'carrying concealed weapons' laws. Going online in rural health
• Abstracts: Exposing patients with chronic, stable, exertional angina to placebo periods in drug trials. Factors Associated With Tobacco Sales to Minors: Lessons Learned From the FDA Compliance Checks

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.