Does film smoking promote youth smoking in middle-income countries?: A longitudinal study among Mexican adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure to smoking imagery in films predicts smoking onset among never-smoking Mexican adolescents. METHODS: The analytic sample was comprised of 11- to 14-year-old secondary school students who reported never having tried smoking at baseline, 83% (1,741/2,093) of whom were successfully followed-up after 1 year. Exposure to 42 popular films that contained smoking was assessed at baseline, whereas smoking behavior and risk factors were assessed at baseline and at follow-up. Logistic regression was used to estimate bivariate and adjusted relative risks (ARR) of trying smoking and current smoking at follow-up. RESULTS: At follow-up, 36% reported having tried smoking and 8% reported having smoked in the previous month. Students who were successfully followed-up were exposed to an average of 43.8 minutes of smoking in the films they reported viewing at baseline. ARRs indicated that students in the two highest levels of exposure to film smoking were more than twice as likely to have smoked in the previous 30 days at follow-up [ARR(3v1) = 2.44; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.31-4.55; ARR(4v1) = 2.23; 95% CI, 1.19-4.17]. The ARR of having tried smoking by the time of follow-up reached statistical significance only when comparing the third highest to the lowest exposure group (ARR(3v1) = 1.54; 95% CI, 1.01-2.64). Having a parent or best friend who smoked at baseline were the only other variables that independently predicted both outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to movie smoking is a risk factor for smoking onset among Mexican youth, although this risk appears weaker than in countries with stronger tobacco marketing regulations.

[Analysis of coverage of the tobacco issue in Mexican print media]. / Análisis de la cobertura del tema de tabaco en medios impresos mexicanos.

Estimate the frequency and manner in which mass media represent tobacco and tobacco control policies. 660 stories published in six Mexican newspapers during 2007 were content analyzed. The majority of the news stories were published in the last quarter of the year, due to discussion of pending local and federal legislation. The vast majority of the stories were in favor of tobacco control policies (49%) or neutral (41%). The most frequently occurring themes in the stories were: legislation (36%), tobacco smoke (28%), economy (24%), and packaging (17%). Actors mentioned were: governmental institutions (24%), legislators (21%), tobacco industry (18%), and national and international non-governmental organizations (7 and 8%, respectively). Advocacy efforts should take advantage of mass media, which appears generally neutral or in favor of tobacco control policies in Mexico.

Promoting the effective translation of the framework convention on tobacco control: a case study of challenges and opportunities for strategic communications in Mexico.

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) promotes the implementation of best-practices tobacco control policies at a global scale. This article describes features of the sociocultural and political-economic context of Mexico that pose challenges and opportunities to the effective translation of WHO-FCTC policies there. It also considers how strategic communication efforts may advance these policies by framing their arguments in ways that resonate with prevalent values, understandings, and concerns. A focus on a smoke-free policy illustrates barriers to policy compliance, including how similar issues have been overcome among Latino populations in California. Overall, this article aims to lay the foundation for comparative research from policy uptake to impact so that the scientific evidence base on tobacco control policies includes examination of how context moderates this process.

Análisis de la cobertura del tema de tabaco en medios impresos mexicanos / Analysis of coverage of the tobacco issue in Mexican print media

Se estima la frecuencia y la forma en que los medios de comunicación presentan el tema de tabaco y las políticas públicas para su control. Se recopilaron y analizaron 660 notas sobre tabaco publicadas en 2007 en seis diarios mexicanos. Se observó un gran incremento de notas en el último semestre del año, debido a la discusión de la legislación local y federal. La mayoría de las notas fue a favor del control de tabaco (49 por ciento) o neutra al respecto (41 por ciento). Los temas más presentes fueron: legislación (36 por ciento), el humo de tabaco (28 por ciento), economía (24 por ciento) y empaquetado (17 por ciento). Los actores mencionados fueron: instituciones gubernamentales (24 por ciento), legisladores (21 por ciento), tabacaleras (18 por ciento), y organizaciones no gubernamentales nacionales (7 por ciento) e internacionales (8 por ciento). Se debe aprovechar la disposición de los medios de comunicación, generalmente a favor, o con una postura neutra, para reallizar actividades de abogacía de las políticas públicas para el control del tabaco.

Estimate the frequency and manner in which mass media represent tobacco and tobacco control policies. 660 stories published in six Mexican newspapers during 2007 were content analyzed. The majority of the news stories were published in the last quarter of the year, due to discussion of pending local and federal legislation. The vast majority of the stories were in favor of tobacco control policies (49 percent) or neutral (41 percent). The most frequently occurring themes in the stories were: legislation (36 percent), tobacco smoke (28 percent), economy (24 percent), and packaging (17 percent). Actors mentioned were: governmental institutions (24 percent), legislators (21 percent), tobacco industry (18 percent), and national and international non-governmental organizations (7 and 8 percent, respectively). Advocacy efforts should take advantage of mass media, which appears generally neutral or in favor of tobacco control policies in Mexico.