The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To describe tobacco use in recent films and teleplays in China.

Methods: Assessment of occurrence of smoking eight TV series (152 hours, 201 sections) and 10 films selected randomly, which were produced in China from 2001 to 2003.

Results: All the 8 TV series dramatized tobacco use, with a median of 164.6 (66-446) depictions of smoking in a teleplay, and lasting 47.5 (11-103) minutes. There are averagely 8.6 depictions of smoking per hour, lasting 2.5 minutes, accounting for 4.2% of a TV series. All the 10 films dramatized tobacco use, with a median of 26.2 (3-111) occurrences of smoking per film, lasting 5.6 minutes (10 seconds to 16.1 minutes), accounting for 5.7% of a film. Motivations for on-screen smoking included relieving depression, agitation, relaxation and killing time.