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Tobacco is appearing more in blockbuster movies, raising public health concerns, a new study finds. Depictions or suggestions of tobacco use in top-grossing movies rose 72 percent from 2010 to 2016, according to the report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase was especially large among top-grossing movies with R ratings, which saw a 90 percent rise in tobacco-use imagery, though researchers noted with special concern that movies rated PG-13 also saw a sizable increase: 43 percent. (Chokshi, 7/11)

The study’s primary aim was to assess Hollywood’s progress in keeping “tobacco incidents” out of the movies most likely to be seen by America’s kids and teens. Researchers who focus on this area define such incidents as “the use or implied use of a tobacco product (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah, smokeless tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes) by an actor.” If two characters are smoking during a conversation, that counts as two tobacco incidents. If one of those characters is holding a pack of cigarettes in another scene, that qualifies as another incident. (Kaplan, 7/11)