There's a suggestion television shows depicting smoking should be given a restricted rating.

LISTEN ABOVE: Nick Wilson talks to Larry Williams

A report in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health has found that in the space of a week, one third of all free to air television in New Zealand featured tobacco imagery.

80 percent of them portray tobacco in a neutral or positive light.

Professor of public health at Otago University Nick Wilson said restricting this isn't just about stopping young people from thinking smoking is cool.

"Historically we know that when celebrities smoke, and when smoking is seen as fashionable and sexy, that helped generate the huge number of people smoking that existed.

"It's also important that we think about people who have quit smoking and maybe are still struggling with staying smokefree. They need all the support that's possible so that includes what's on in the media."