Public health officials know that kids who watch their heroes smoke in movies are much more likely to begin smoking. And while those at the National Cancer Institute who track onscreen tobacco use say the incidents on film are dropping, there are still enough shots to be a problem.

In a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cancer Institute says for the fifth straight year, the number of incidents of smoking in movies rated G, PG or PG-13 has dropped. The drop was 71.6 percent from 2005 to 2010 (2,093 incidents to 595 incidents).

Three major motion picture companies with stated polices of reducing tobacco use on camera dropped an average drop of 95.8 percent, compared to a drop of 41.7 percent among independent film companies and three other major companies without polices.

The report said kid with the highest amount of exposure to onscreen smoking are about two times as likely to begin smoking as those with the least exposure, and policies do have an impact.

Think watching people smoke in the movies makes you want to smoke?

Baltimore Sun file photo of John Waters telling movie-goers not to smoke in the theater