Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109313

Teresa Mastin, PhD, Advertisting, Public Relations and Retailing, Michigan State University, Communication Arts and Sciences Building, East Lansing, MI 48824 and Shelly Campo, PhD, Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, E237 GH, Iowa City, IA 52244, 319-384-5393, shelly-campo@uiowa.edu.

Three-quarters of U.S. Black women are overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk of multiple diseases, poorer quality of life, and a shorter life span. Tirodkar & Jain (2003) propose that the high number of high-fat food products that target advertising toward Blacks send a message that obesity is acceptable. Advertisements are at least as powerful, and perhaps more powerful, than editorial content. This study examines selected Black women's magazines' food and non-alcoholic beverage advertisements to determine whether the products advertised and the images featured in the advertisements send a message that models or inhibits healthy diet and physical activity as keys to preventing and overcoming overweight and obesity. More than 1500 food and non-alcoholic beverage advertisements printed in a sample of Ebony (n=60), Essence (n=60), and Jet (n=60) magazines during the 20-year period of 1984 - 2003 were content analyzed. Categories included: (1) fast food, (2) processed foods, (3) fats, oils, sweets, (4) dairy, (5) protein, (6) vegetables, (7), fruit, (8) grains, (9) nutritional diet drink (e.g., slim fast), (10) diet soft drinks and (11) sweetened beverage (juice drinks, sugared soft drinks). Overall, results suggest that the vast majority of advertisements in all three magazines consistently over the 20-year span illustrate and encourage unhealthy dietary choices including high consumption of fats, carbohydrates, and high calorie options. Implications using the four steps of media advocacy theory, which considers how the media's framing of health issues affect media coverage and public policy, are offered.

Learning Objectives: At the close of this session, participants will be able to

(
• Describe advertising content and how it has changed little in the past two decades despite increased knowledge about obesity and health. (
• Understand how the content of magazines’ advertisements contribute to, and model, unhealthy eating among Black women. (
• Learn how to couple study results and media advocacy theory to promote change.

Keywords: African American, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.