Uncle Sam to Start Tracking Tobacco Use in Movies Aimed at Kids

Federal health authorities said Friday they will begin monitoring how well movie studios are doing to reduce depictions of smoking and other tobacco use in youth-rated movies.

Authorities at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Office on Smoking and Health said that voluntary efforts by movie studios to reduce tobacco use in youth-rated movies have been unimpressive. Data on tobacco use in movies will  be added to regular CDC reports to the public on smoking prevalence among youth and adults, total and per-capita cigarette consumption, and progress on tobacco control policies.

"We all have a responsibility to prevent youth from becoming tobacco users, and the movie industry has a responsibility to protect our youth from exposure to tobacco use and other pro-tobacco imagery in movies that are produced and rated as appropriate for children and adolescents," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Tim McAfee. "Eliminating tobacco imagery in movies is an important step that should be easy to take."

MORE: PG-13 Movies May Start Teens Smoking

Understanding what motivates kids to smoke is a high priority of public-health experts. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 3,800 kids a day smoke their first cigarette. And, while smoking rates fell over the past 40 years, rates in both adults and youths have held steady in more recent years.

Previous research shows that kids who see smoking on television and in the movies are more likely to take up smoking. But depictions of smoking continue to turn up in youth-rated movies. Last year, the number of on-screen smoking scenes increased, according to a study published in the October issue of the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

The data, from Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!, a project of  Breathe California-Emigrant Trails, is based on tobacco incidents in top-grossing movies each year rated G, PG and PG-13. The study looked at 134 movies that were among the 10 top-grossing, youth-rated movies last year for at least one week.

The study found the number of tobacco incidents rose 3 percent (1,881 incidents) in 2011 compared to 2010 despite the fact that there were five fewer movies in the 2011 sample. The number of tobacco incidents per movie rose 7 percent over 2010 -- 13.1 incidents per movie in 2010 and 14 last year. The biggest increase in smoking depictions occurred in G and PG movies.

MORE: Smoking Rates Around the World Are Astronomical

And, while kids aren't supposed to see R-rated movies, smoking incidents in those films rose 7 percent in 2011, said the author of the study, Dr. Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. Glantz has been studying smoking in the movies for many years.

"There are going to be hundreds or thousands of kids who will take up smoking due to this backsliding," Glantz told Take Part. "There is a dose response here, too -- the more kids see, the more likely they will smoke."

The uptick in smoking comes at a time when health professionals are unified behind the idea that kids are influenced by such depictions in the media. In a report released earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin identified smoking in movies and tobacco-company advertising as the primary forces that cause kids to take up smoking.

"The evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and the initiation of smoking among young people," the Surgeon General's report noted. Images of smoking in the movies, "are powerful because they can make smoking seem like a normal, acceptable, or even attractive activity. Young people may also look up to movie stars, both on and off screen, and may want to imitate behaviors they see."

MORE: Teen Smoking an 'Epidemic,' Surgeon General Says

Previous studies have also showed that depictions of smoking in the movies are more likely to influence low-risk kids to smoke; "the kids whose parents don't smoke or kids who do well in school," Glantz says.

The increase in on-screen smoking is further disappointing because top officials for three studios -- Comcast (Universal), Disney and Time Warner -- had previously committed to reductions in smoking in their movies, Glantz says. Smoking in youth-rated movies declined from 2005 to 2010.

Among these companies with stated policies discouraging smoking in movies, the percentage of movies that were tobacco-free declined by 17 percent from 2010 to 2011.

"A few studios had taken the lead in reducing the amount of smoking in their films," Glantz says.  "They accomplished it and showed it could be done. But now there is this serious back-sliding. I don't know what accounts for that.  These three studios are now about as bad as the studios that hadn't made a lot of progress. I don't know what happened."

The Walt Disney Company "actively seeks to limit the depiction of smoking in

movies marketed to youth," according to a statement released by the company to Take Part.

MORE: U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels

"Disney discourages depictions of cigarette smoking in movies produced in the United States for which a Disney entity is the sole or lead producer and which are released either as a Touchstone movie or Marvel movie, and seeks to limit cigarette smoking in those movies that are not rated “R” to: scenes in which smoking is part of the historical, biographical or cultural context of the scene or is important to the character or scene from a factual or creative standpoint, or to scenes in which cigarette smoking is portrayed in an unfavorable light or the negative consequences of smoking are emphasized," according to the statement.

The company also said it prohibits tobacco product placement and promotions and will  place anti-smoking public service announcements on DVD’s of new and newly re-mastered titles, not rated “R,” that depict cigarette smoking and will work with theater owners to encourage the exhibition of an anti-smoking public service announcement before the theatrical exhibition of any such movie.

But the World Health Organization and other public health groups have recommended formal policies aimed at eliminating smoking in the movies, McAfee noted.

MORE: Teens: Smoking Less, Calling It 'Scummy' More

The Glantz study raises "serious concerns about this individual company approach," he wrote. "This difference suggests that individual company policies may not be sufficient to sustain a reduction in youth exposure to tobacco-use and other pro-tobacco imagery in movies and that more formal, industry-wide policies are needed."

Glantz has long argued for a modernized rating system to give movies with any tobacco use an R rating, unless the presentation of tobacco "clearly and unambiguously reflects the dangers and consequences of tobacco use," he says. Other options to discourage smoking are to run anti-smoking messages prior to the movie and persuading movie studies to adopt policies to certify they receive no payments for depicting particular tobacco brands in their movies.

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Study tentatively links flu in pregnancy and autism

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids whose mothers had the flu while pregnant were slightly more likely to be diagnosed with "infantile autism" before age three in a new Danish study. But the children's overall risk for the developmental disorder was not higher than that of other kids.

Researchers said it's possible that activation of a mother's immune system - such as by infection with the influenza virus - could affect a fetus's developing brain. But they urged caution with the new findings, especially because of statistical limitations in their number-crunching.

"I really want to emphasize that this is not something you should worry about," said lead author Dr. Hjordis Osk Atladottir, from the University of Aarhus.

"Ninety-nine percent of women with influenza do not have a child with autism," she told Reuters Health. "If it were me that was pregnant, I wouldn't do anything different from before, because our research is so early and exploratory."

Her team's data came from a study that originally recruited more than 100,000 pregnant women in Denmark between 1996 and 2002. The women were called multiple times during their pregnancies, and once afterward, to ask about any new infections they had or medications they had taken.

The new report includes 96,736 kids born from that initial cohort who were between 8 and 14 years old at the time of the analysis.

Using a country-wide register of psychiatric diagnoses, Atladottir and her colleagues found that 1 percent of all kids were diagnosed with autism, including 0.4 percent with infantile autism - in which the main symptoms all show up before age three.

There was no link between a range of infections in pregnancy - including herpes, coughs and colds and cystitis - and the chance a baby would develop autism or infantile autism, according to the report published Monday in Pediatrics.

And among 808 women who reported having the flu while pregnant, there was no increased risk of autism in their children. However, seven of those babies, or 0.87 percent, were diagnosed with infantile autism, compared to the rate of 0.4 percent among kids in general.

There was also an increased - albeit sometimes borderline - risk of both autism and infantile autism in babies of women who had fevers for a week or more during pregnancy, as well as mothers who took some types of antibiotics.

Atladottir said there is some research in rodents suggesting women's activated immune cells can cross the placenta and affect chemicals in a fetus's brain. But how those findings apply to humans is still a question mark.

"It's all very unsure now - we don't really know anything," she said.

In the United States, about one in 88 children is now diagnosed with autism or a related disorder.

One limitation of the new study, the researchers noted, is that they did 106 statistical tests comparing the risk of autism or infantile autism with various infections and drugs.

In medical research, a significant finding is typically considered one where there is less than a five percent likelihood the result would have occurred by chance.

But when so many calculations are done, scientists would expect that at least some would pass this test of significance, even if there is no real link between the pregnancy variables and autism.

In addition, women's flu reports weren't confirmed by doctors - and the frequency of mistaking the flu for another infection, or vice versa, is "likely to be considerable," the researchers noted.

Because of those limitations, Atladottir said the findings could encourage future research, but shouldn't be at the front of pregnant women's minds.

"We don't want to create panic," she said.

Still, one expert who wasn't involved in the new study thought the researchers were "soft peddling" their conclusions.

"It is highly recommended that women avoid infection during pregnancy, and there are a variety of very practical ways to decrease the likelihood of this," Paul Patterson, who studies the immune system and brain development at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told Reuters Health by email.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend all women get a flu vaccine during pregnancy - in part because serious flu complications are more common in pregnant women.

But, said Patterson, "It is also worth emphasizing that even though the risk (of infantile autism) is significantly increased, the risk is still quite low."

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Nesquik Recall Q and A: Are Your Kids Safe?

 Nestlé announced late last week a recall of Nesquik for possible Salmonella contamination. Promoted by the Nesquik Bunny, the chocolate milk flavoring is consumed primarily by children. Here's what you need to know to make sure your kids are safe from this Salmonella risk.

How Do I Know If My Nesquik Is Part of the Recall?

The Nesquik recall covers only chocolate powder in 10.9, 21.8 and 40.7 ounce canisters manufactured during October 2012. Any other Nesquik products are not subject to recall. According to CNN, 200,000 canisters of Nesquik are included in the recall.

Nesquik subject to the recall bears a Best Before date of October 2014. The applicable UPC codes and production codes include: for 40.7 ounce containers UPC 0 28000 68230 9 with production codes 2282574810 or 2282574820; for 21.8 ounce size, UPC 0 28000 68090 9 and production codes 2278574810, 2278574820, 2279574810, 2279574820, 2284574820, 2284574830, 2285574810, 2285574820, 2287574820, 2289574810, or 2289574820; and, for 10.9 ounce canisters, UPC 0 28000 67990 3 and product code 2278574810.

What About Ready-to-Drink Nesquik Served at My Kid's School?

In June, Nestlé went after the school lunch market by offering eight-ounce ready-to-drink Nesquik. If your child's school is serving ready-to-drink Nesquik, there's no cause for concern. The recall covers only the powder variety of Nesquik, not the ready-to-drink type.

What Led to the Nesquik Recall?

Nestlé identifies a supplier of calcium carbonate used in the drink powder as the culprit. The recall notice says Omya, Inc., notified Nestlé of its own product recall due to Salmonella concerns. There have been no reports of illness associated with the Nesquik recall, Nestlé says.

What Is Calcium Carbonate?

Calcium carbonate is an additive included in powdered products to prevent caking and/or to increase calcium content, according to Self.

If My Child Gets Sick, How Will I Know Whether or Not It's from Salmonella?

Salmonella infection symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. These normally develop within 72 hours of consuming contaminated food or drink. Most people who do contract salmonellosis get better in about a week without treatment. For infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems, salmonellosis can be life threatening and medical treatment is advised.

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Kids with Down syndrome twice as likely to be heavy

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than one in four children with Down syndrome in The Netherlands is overweight, a rate double that of Dutch youth without the developmental disability, according to a new study.

"We were alarmed by the high prevalence of overweight in children with Down syndrome," said Dr. Helma van Gameren-Oosterom, the lead author of the study from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research in Leiden.

"Of course we knew that the prevalence of overweight is rising; for Dutch standards a twofold level, however, was not expected."

Previous studies have suggested children with Down syndrome are especially prone to being heavy. But researchers still aren't sure why that is, according to Dr. Sheela Magge, an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not part of the new study.

Theories have ranged from physiological differences in metabolism or the way the body suppresses appetite to behavioral differences, such as in how much exercise children get, she said, but no studies have been able to pin down the definitive cause.

About 6,000 babies - or one in every 691 - are born with Down syndrome each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the latest study, the researchers compared growth patterns among 659 children with Down syndrome and no other health problems to general data on youth in The Netherlands.

By calculating kids' weight relative to their height - a unit called body mass index (BMI) - the research team determined which children were overweight and which were obese. The BMI cutoffs for obesity and overweight are different for each age in children.

Magge said they're not a perfect measure for children with Down syndrome because their body proportions are different than those of other children, but it's the best available yardstick for now.

Gameren-Oosterom and her colleagues found 25.5 percent of boys with Down syndrome were overweight and 4.2 percent were obese.

Among girls with the condition, 32 percent were overweight and 5.1 percent obese, they report in the medical journal Pediatrics.

In comparison, children in the rest of the Dutch population had much lower rates: for boys, 12.3 percent were overweight and 1.7 percent obese; for girls, 14.7 percent were overweight and 2.2 percent were obese.

Magge said researchers have also observed higher rates of overweight among children with Down syndrome in the U.S.

Gameren-Oosterom wrote in an email to Reuters Health that she and her colleagues suspect lifestyle has something to do with that pattern. Because it's harder for young people with Down syndrome to develop their motor skills, they may be less active.

Low muscle tone and poor coordination often accompany the disability as well, Magge told Reuters Health.

Her concern with so many kids being overweight is that as people with Down syndrome are living longer, "we may start seeing more complications and comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease (and) hypertension, all those things that we worry about in all of our obese adolescents."

Gameren-Oosterom said it's difficult to develop a prevention or treatment strategy to target overweight and obesity in children with Down syndrome, given that the causes are unknown.

But like all youth, she added, those children will benefit from a healthy diet and sufficient exercise.

Magge said people with Down syndrome tend to prefer keeping strict routines, which could be something parents can take advantage of to help instill healthy habits.

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A Good Reason -- Pregnancy, Your Dog, Money, Anything -- is Key to Quitting Smoking

 FIRST PERSON | I remember when I quit smoking one weekend. It was a Saturday night and I was pre-gaming with some friends before going out. Someone suggested taking a smoke break, and I went along to be with the crowd. Last thing I remember was having a great time, surrounded by secondhand smoke  from cigarettes and Black & Milds. Then I woke up the next morning with a fresh pack of Newports in my purse. There was a few missing from the pack. I wasn't sure who bought these cigarettes for me, but the taste in my mouth told me who smoked them. That was the first time I realized that I'd have to change my friends if I was going to change my lifestyle.

However, that didn't happen until over a year later.

Make the choice and follow through

The moment I found out I was pregnant, I knew my cigarette days had to be over. The people that I partied with were not of the "best friends forever" variety, so it was not an impossible challenge to stop going out with them.

Being pregnant turned me off to the smell of smoke, anyway. It was after I gave birth that I had to really stick to my guns about quitting. I haven't smoked in more than two years, but I'd be lying if I said that I don't crave a cigarette every now and then. I doubt those cravings will go away completely, but my child is my motivation to stay away for good.

You don't have to have a child to quit smoking. The most important thing to keep in mind is the reason why you need to quit. It can be for your health, for your dog, to save money -- anything. Anything that you feel passionate about, keep it in your mind because, without a reason, you're not going to make it. You may fail, and that's OK. But never give up.

It may be tough to make changes to your life or change your friends, but that's a necessary change to make if you want to succeed. At least keep yourself away from temptation until you having a good handle on your life as an ex-smoker.

The easy thing about quitting is after you stomp out your cigarette, you quit. It's up to you if you want to light another one up.

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Even moderate drinking in pregnancy may affect child's IQ

LONDON (Reuters) - Women who drink even moderate amounts of alcohol while pregnant may risk lowering child's intelligence levels, according to a study by British scientists.

Advice to pregnant women about drinking is contradictory, with some guidelines recommending no alcohol at all and others suggesting the odd drink now and then is safe.

But in a study described as "hugely important" by one expert, researchers using genetic analysis of more than 4,000 mothers and children found that drinking between one and six units of alcohol a week during pregnancy can lead to lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores by the time a child is eight.

"Even at levels of alcohol consumption which are normally considered to be harmless, we can detect differences in childhood IQ which are dependent on the ability of the fetus to clear this alcohol," said Sarah Lewis of Bristol University, who led the study. "This is evidence that even at these moderate levels, alcohol is influencing fetal brain development."

This study used genetic data from women and children who were part of another study called the Children of the 90s study.

Since the individual genetic variations that people have in their DNA are not connected to lifestyle and social factors, this kind of study avoids potential complications.

Most previous studies have used observational evidence, but experts say this can be misleading because, for example, mothers who drink in moderation while pregnant are typically also well educated, have good diets and are unlikely to smoke - all factors linked to higher IQ in children and which could mask any negative effects of alcohol.

A U.S. study published in July found that older, educated women are more likely to drink while pregnant.

GENES AFFECT ALCOHOL METABOLISM

This study, published in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday, used a new technique analyzing the genetic variants which modify the effects of alcohol exposure levels.

When a person drinks alcohol, ethanol is converted to acetaldehyde by a group of enzymes, the researchers explained.

Variations in genes that 'encode' these enzymes lead to differences in a person's ability to metabolize ethanol, so in "slow metabolizes", alcohol levels may be higher for longer than in "fast metabolizes". Scientists think fast ethanol metabolism protects against abnormal brain development because less alcohol goes to the fetus.

The mothers were asked to record their alcohol consumption at various stages during pregnancy, and one drink was specified as one unit of alcohol.

The results showed that four genetic variants in alcohol-metabolizing genes among the 4,167 children were strongly related to lower IQ at age eight. The child's IQ was on average almost two points lower per genetic variation they had.

The effect was only seen among children of women who were moderate drinkers and there was no effect evident in children of mothers who abstained during pregnancy. This strongly suggests it was exposure to alcohol in the womb that led to the difference in child IQ, the researchers said.

"This is a complex study but the message is simple: even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence." said Ron Gray of Oxford University, who was part of Lewis's team.

David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the research, said it was "a hugely important study from the best UK cohort that can study this question".

"Even though the IQ effects are small, if at all possible women should avoid ethanol in pregnancy as it's a known toxin," he said in an emailed comment.

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U.S. judge names lead plaintiffs in Facebook litigation

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of investors including state pension funds in North Carolina and Arkansas will be the lead plaintiffs in securities lawsuits arising out of Facebook Inc's $16 billion initial public offering, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday.

The investors, in a proposed class-action case, have accused Facebook of misrepresenting its financial condition in the run-up to the May stock offering. They are represented by law firms Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann and Labaton Sucharow.

The ruling helps set a structure for the Facebook IPO litigation, a headache for the social media company and a nagging reminder of the technical glitches in the highly anticipated stock market debut.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan also named lead plaintiffs for lawsuits against NASDAQ OMX Group Inc stemming from the IPO. NASDAQ was sued over allegations that orders to buy and sell Facebook were not properly executed on the first day of trading.

Facebook, which has defended its pre-IPO disclosures, declined to comment on Thursday. A spokesman for NASDAQ declined to comment on the litigation.
Facebook shares made their debut at $38 per share, and later fell as much as 50 percent. On Thursday, they closed at $26.90, down 2.6 percent.
Sweet consolidated the cases and picked lead plaintiffs to head up most of the 42 lawsuits before him arising out of the IPO.

Under a federal law governing securities lawsuits, courts routinely select a lead plaintiff in class actions. The lead plaintiff typically is the shareholder with the biggest losses, though judges have discretion to pick a different investor.

The plaintiff group picked to lead 31 cases alleging securities violations against Facebook includes the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association and Banyan Capital Master Fund Ltd.

The group has collectively claimed a combined $7.1 million in losses.

"Its members are large, institutional investors with experience representing shareholder classes in similar litigation with the resources to pursue the action," Sweet said.
In the securities lawsuits against NASDAQ, the judge said First New York Securities LLC, T3 Trading Group LLC, and Avatar Securities LLC would act as co-lead plaintiffs. The group traded a combined $316 million in Facebook shares the day of the IPO, the decision said.

The case is In re Facebook, Inc, IPO Securities and Derivative Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, MDL No. 12-2389.

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Recent hacking of U.N. nuclear agency not first attempt: IAEA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A recently announced hacking of the U.N. nuclear agency's computer servers was not the first time an attempt had been made to break into the organization's computer system, the head of the agency said on Thursday.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that a few months ago a group broke into the agency's computer system and stole personal information of scientists working on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

In response to questions at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington, Amano repeated what he said last week after the hacking was revealed: no sensitive information about the IAEA's nuclear inspections had been stolen.

The IAEA has shut down the server that had been hacked and is continuing an investigation, Amano said. But he also said it wasn't the first attempt to break into the system.

"If you ask if this is the only case? I would say there have been some other tries but we are doing our best to protect our system," Amano said.
The hackers - a group using an Iranian-sounding name - have posted scores of email addresses of experts who have been working with the U.N. agency on a website, and have urged the IAEA to investigate Israel's nuclear activity.

Israel, which has an undeclared nuclear arsenal, and the United States accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies such ambitions.

Amano would not say if he believed Iran was behind the attacks on the IAEA, whose missions include preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and which is investigating Iran's disputed nuclear activities.

"The group ... they have what looks like an Iranian name. But that does not mean that the origin is Iran," he said.

There has been an increase in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this year, coinciding with a deepening standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.

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Software guru McAfee hospitalized in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, who is fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to the hospital in Guatemala on Thursday after his lawyer said he suffered two mild heart attacks earlier in the day, Reuters witnesses said.

McAfee was carried out on a stretcher from an immigration service cottage where he was detained after crossing illegally into Guatemala from neighboring Belize. Police in Belize want to question McAfee in connection with his neighbor's murder.

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Amazon and Google start e-book sales in Brazil

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc both opened their digital bookstores in Brazil on Thursday, hot on the heels of e-book offerings by local booksellers in a fast-growing online retail market.

The simultaneous introduction of the two services highlighted the wide-open nature of Brazil's $12 billion e-commerce market. Low Internet penetration and a swelling middle class have spurred bets on strong growth for years to come.

Amazon will begin selling its Kindle e-book reader in Brazil in coming weeks for 299 reais ($140), the e-commerce powerhouse said, ending months of speculation that it could arrive by acquiring a major competitor.

Brazil's biggest bookstore chain, Saraiva, is trying to sell its online business, but a person familiar with Amazon's strategy told Reuters in October that the U.S. company would stick to its focus on organic growth in foreign markets.

In Brazil, the Kindle will take on Samsung and Apple tablets that often cost as much as twice their U.S. retail prices due to import tariffs, steep taxes and inflated local production costs. Local bookseller Livraria Cultura sells its Kobo e-reader for 399 reais.

The rival Google Play service will offer e-books and movie rentals on computers and mobile devices running Google's Android operating system.

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In brewing rivalry, Instagram trims ties to Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's recently acquired photo-sharing service Instagram  removed a key element of its integration with Twitter, signaling a deepening rift between two of the Web's dominant social media companies.

Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said Wednesday his company turned off support for Twitter "cards" in order to drive Twitter users to Instagram's own website. Twitter "cards" are a feature that allows multimedia content like YouTube videos and Instagram photos to be embedded and viewed directly within a Twitter message.

The move marked the latest clash between Facebook and Twitter since April, when Facebook, the world's no. 1 social network, outbid Twitter to nab fast-growing Instagram in a cash-and-stock deal valued at the time at $1 billion. The acquisition closed in September for roughly $715 million, reflecting Facebook's recent stock drop.

The companies' ties have been strained since. In July, Twitter blocked Instagram from using its data to help new Instagram users find friends.

Beginning earlier this week, Twitter's users began to complain in public messages that Instagram photos did not seem to display properly on Twitter's website.

Systrom confirmed Wednesday that his company had decided its users should view photos on Instagram's own Web pages and took steps to change its policies.

"We believe the best experience is for us to link back to where the content lives," Systrom said in a statement, citing recent improvements to Instagram's website.

"A handful of months ago, we supported Twitter cards because we had a minimal Web presence," Systrom said, noting that the company has since released new features that allow users to comment about and "like" photos directly on Instagram's website.

The move escalates a rivalry in the fast-growing social networking sector, where the biggest players have sought to wall off access to content from rival services and to their ranks of users.

"They're both competing for slices of the same pie, the pie being users' attention," said Ray Valdes, an analyst with research firm Gartner.

If Facebook decides to offer advertising on Instagram, it's important that the users visit Instagram's own website, said Valdes. "If the eyeballs are elsewhere, you have less to work with in terms of monetization," he said.

Photos are among the most popular features on both Facebook and Twitter, and Instagram's meteoric rise in recent years has further proved how picture-sharing has become a key front in the battle for social Internet supremacy.

Instagram, which has 100 million users, allows consumers to tweak the photos they take on their smartphones and share the images with friends, a feature that Twitter has reportedly also begun to develop. Twitter's executive chairman, Jack Dorsey, was an early investor in Instagram and had hoped to acquire it before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a successful bid.

When Zuckerberg announced the acquisition in an April blog post, he highlighted Instagram's inter-connectivity with other social networks.

"We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience," Zuckerberg wrote. "We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks."

A Twitter spokesman declined comment Wednesday, but a status message on Twitter's website confirmed that users are "experiencing issues," such as "cropped images" when viewing Instagram photos on Twitter.

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