Calls to halt smoking in Brit flicks

Doctors have called for greater controls to be placed on films that feature smoking, after studies found that 7 out of 10 blockbusters contained tobacco products.

The research from Nottingham University was published in the medical journal Thorax and found that some of the most prevalent British films such as Bridget Jones Diary and About a Boy, featured excessive amounts of smoking, despite their 18 or under age rating.

The latter film featured lead character Hugh Grant, smoking Silk Cut in front of a 12 year old boy on a regular basis.

Looking at the biggest UK box office hits between 1989 and 2008, researchers found that 15 films contained smoking or smoking related references.

The Guardian reports that authors of the study have called upon the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to consider smoking references when rating films, in line with current policies on the depiction of drug use and violence.

President of the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Ian Gilmore, commented on the findings, saying: ''At present children are protected from images of hard drug use with an 18 certification, but films which show smoking in a glamorous way can still get a U classification. We believe that unless there is solid factual evidence for it, smoking should not be portrayed in films aimed at under-18s."

Many health researchers believe that it is this glamorisation of smoking that promotes the habit amongst young people - a habit that can be very difficult to break without the help of clinical therapies such as stop smoking hypnotherapy.