Media
messages may reduce secondhand smoke in homes
Newswise — People who see
news stories and advertisements about the dangers of
secondhand smoke are more likely to feel that it is harmful,
and may restrict smoking at home, according to new research
published in the American Journal of Health Behavior.
The study by W. Douglas
Evans, of the nonprofit research corporation RTI
International, and colleagues found that anti-secondhand
smoke media messages have a strong indirect effect on
smoking restrictions in the home.
Anti-secondhand smoke
media account for 10 percent of people’s negative attitudes
about secondhand smoke, but these negative attitudes explain
nearly 60 percent of home smoking restrictions, Evans said.
“Media work through
changing people’s attitudes to get them to change home
smoking rules,” he said.
People may “have to
process the information” they get from the media through
family discussions or through one person in a household
taking a strong position on secondhand smoke before the
change in attitude becomes a change in home restrictions,
Evans suggested.
According to 2003
statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, secondhand smoke exposure is the third leading
cause of preventable death in the United States. Secondhand
smoke exposure has been linked to lung cancer and heart
disease in adults and severe respiratory infections and
asthma, particularly in infants and young children.
The researchers measured
the link between anti-secondhand smoke messages and home
restrictions through a survey of 2,348 adults conducted by
the American Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit anti-smoking
foundation. About 23 percent of those surveyed were current
smokers.
Researchers asked the
survey participants whether they had seen news stories or
ads about “the dangers of kids being around cigarette smoke”
and “efforts to ban smoking in public places,” among other
questions. They also asked the participants to agree or
disagree with statements such as, “It is harmful to a
person’s health if they live in a house where a smoker
smokes tobacco indoors” or, “Inhaling someone else’s
cigarette smoke can cause lung cancer in nonsmokers.”
Only 11 percent of those
surveyed lived in a house with no smoking restrictions,
while 65 percent of those surveyed had complete smoking bans
within their homes.
Evans and colleagues say
their study shows that a concerted media campaign could be
an effective way of reducing secondhand smoke exposure.
“Our evidence suggests
that if money were spent on it, it would be effective. The
question is where to get the money,” Evans said.
Boston University Public
School of Health professor Michael Siegel, M.D., an expert
in health communication and smoking behavior, agrees that
secondhand smoke messages have been sidelined sometimes in
favor of more direct appeals for quitting and preventing
smoking.
“The funding for
anti-smoking media campaigns has been greatly slashed in
almost every state that has had such a campaign, Siegel
said. “The campaign in Massachusetts has been completely
eliminated. The campaign in Florida was all but eliminated.
With the limited funding available, I think groups running
these campaigns have chosen to focus on smoking prevention
and cessation and haven't had the funds to have the ‘luxury’
of addressing the secondhand smoke issue,” Siegel said.
Cigarette maker Philip
Morris USA did not respond to requests for comment on how
they have addressed the issue of secondhand smoke.
The Evans study was
supported by the American Legacy Foundation.
Evans WD, et al. Media and
secondhand smoke exposure: results from a national survey.
Am J Health Behav 30(1),