Childhood Obesity in the Media-docx

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Running head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN THE MEDIA 1

Childhood Obesity in the Media

Chris Haddeland

Linfield College


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CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN THE MEDIA 2

Childhood Obesity in the Media

Topic

Introduction

Obesity is one of the most influential diseases in the United States. Thirty percent of

adults in the United States are obese (Facts About Obesity in the United States, CDC).

This statistic is alarming enough, but the disease itself is not only prevalent in adults, it is

also a raising concern among children. Eighteen percent of children in the United States

ranging from ages six- to nineteen-years-old are obese (CDC, 2013). Obesity is a concern for

many reasons, not only is living with obesity a major health issue, but many other health

problems can develop from obesity such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, Heart

Disease and Cancer (Lets Move). As the obesity crisis continues to grow, these diseases

will become more prevalent. According to the Lets Move Initiative started by The First

Lady Michelle Obama, 40 percent of children born after the turn of the millennium will

have diabetes at some point in their life.

Viewpoint

There are many factors that contribute to obesity, including diet, exercise and even

some hereditary characteristics. The media contributes to these effects in a multitude of

ways like advertising for unhealthy food, portraying sedentary lifestyles in television

shows and movies and providing unrealistic body types of role models for people to look

up to. What I plan on looking at in this paper is how the media sees their role as the media

by providing a screen for children to look at instead of exercising has affected childhood

obesity and if their views are similar to scholarly research.


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With the media being a major factor contributing to one of the largest heath issues

in the United States, I am interested in seeing how they view their role in contributing to

the epidemic and how scholars believe the media is contributing to childhood obesity. With

the majority of revenue coming from advertisements, which are fed off of viewership, how

does the media see their goal of having the largest audience consuming their material

affecting the nations health?

Media Coverage

Introduction

Although all most all media contributes to childhood obesity by making the

consumer stay sedentary, most of the media does not address their role in contributing to

screen time. According to a study by The Kaiser Family Foundation children spend five and

a half hours in front of a screen consuming media every day (Lallanilla, 2013). This is more

time devoted to one activity than any other aside from sleep. Another study mentioned in

the same article showed that there was a two percent increase of obesity for every

additional hour of television viewed. Facts such as these make it evident that the media

does have an effect on obesity in children.

One form of media that does address this issue is the news media. This channel of

media is able to evaluate the effects the industry has on the general public and on children

through out the different modes of distribution.

Advertisements

Advertisements are one way in which the media affects children and obesity. Not

only are children planted in front of a screen but they are being offered products that can

affect their health in a negative way, such as soft drinks, junk food and fast food. Seventy


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two percent of advertisements meant for the child demographic feature candy, cereal and

fast food (Lallanilla, 2013). Items such as these play a part into contributing poor diet

choices that can contribute to childhood obesity.

Advertisers are able to effect the decision making part of the brain even when the

viewer isnt paying attention. According to a feature on National Public RadiosAll Things

Considered, advertisers are now able to use an EEG to monitor brain activity while an

audience member is viewing a commercial (Block, 2011). These scans show how and

where the commercial is affecting the brain. The results of these studies have shown that

even if a viewer is not paying attention to the material. Commercials affect the area of the

brain where your impulse to go out and buy a product is located. When you account using

characters from popular childrens programs to promote products, it is clear why three out

of four products requested at the grocery store by children were advertised on television

(Lallanilla, 2013).

Not only are advertisers reaching children through television, but with the up rise in

internet and social media use, advertisers are starting to reach children through these

media as well. Using social media to advertise allows for advertising agencies to reach

minority and lower income children who may not be exposed to televised advertising

(Stannard, 2011). This is of great concern because studies have shown that minority

children have higher rates of obesity (USA Today, 2011). Red bull, for example, has placed

videos of BMX bikers on YouTube to market their product (Stannard, 2011). Although these

videos show exercising in an appealing light, they are also planning on having youth in

front of a screen and promoting the consumption of their high-calorie high-sugar drink.


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Advertisements are a contributing factor toward the medias effect on childhood

obesity. Not only do advertisements keep children in front of the screen instead of being

active but they also promote the consumption of unhealthy foods that can factor into

childhood obesity. The news media is aware of this issue and almost always opposes the

messages that such advertisements advocate, but their efforts have done little to help

decrease the rate of childhood obesity.

Screen Time

A second area that the media evaluates its contribution to childhood obesity is

inactivity due to media consumption. Unless someone is participating in a work out video,

listening to music while exercising or working out using a Nintendo Wii, most media

consumption is sedentary. Making sure one is active along with a healthy diet is how to

avoid obesity. This issue is more difficult for the media to cover because they want people

to view their product.

The environment is another factor in obesity. When watching a television or

computer screen, children are living in a sedentary lifestyle. Another problem with this

sedentary lifestyle is that high-calorie and sugary food products are often consumed while

a child is in front of the screen (Levy & Lang, 2010). In situations such as these, children do

not have a proper diet and are not getting the amount of exercise needed to stay in shape

and not obese. Toddlers, for example, are recommended to spend no more than 30 minutes

at a time in a sedentary position (USA Today, 2011).

Sleep is also vital in preventing obesity. Leann Birch, chairwoman of an Institute of

Medicine committee that filed a report on obesity, sleep and screen time says that there is a

large amount of data showing a connection between shorter sleep periods and higher


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weight (USA Today, 2011). Promoting an environment for children to sleep where sleep is

not detoured is a way to ensure better sleep patterns. This is not occurring in our country,

where 40 percent of children have televisions in their bedrooms (USA Today, 2011).

Consuming media instead of sleeping longer and at more appropriate rates can contribute

to obesity.

The medias desire to have children in front of screens and consuming media

content can contribute to lower levels of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet habits all

are factors in childhood obesity. Although the media acknowledge that screen time

contributes to obesity, the desire to have viewers and make a larger profit creates a

situation where the media must negatively critique itself.

Scholarly Research

Introduction

The media critiquing their own affect on childhood obesity is a delicate task.

Journalists are supposed to provide and inform the public on relevant issues, and the

medias impact on childhood obesityis just that. A problem they face is making sure they

do not reduce the income of the organization that they are working for. In most cases,

media companies are fueled through the money advertisers pay in order to promote their

products through the medium. Since advertising is a major factor in the medias

contribution to childhood obesity, media organizations have to be careful not to lose

advertisers by critiquing what they do. Despite this, the media has increased awareness of

their effect on childhood obesity. This awareness has helped politicians pass legislation

regarding the topic (Dodson & Fleming, 2009).

Advertising:


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Scholars contribute advertisements as a major factor in the medias effect on

childhood obesity. High-calorie high-sugar products are inappropriately advertised on

Saturday morning cartoon programs (Seiders & Petty, 2004). The authors of the article

previously stated also say that using characters in these commercials limit childrens ability

to distinguish the difference between advertisements and entertainment content. The food

that is advertised to children through these programs is usual of poor nutritional quality

(Powell, 2013). According to the study, cereals advertised toward children contain 57

percent more sugar, 50 percent more sodium and 57 percent less fiber than those cereals

targeted toward adults. Factors such as these contribute to the poor nutritional quality of

the foods children want, thus negatively affecting childhood obesity.

Although the amount money spent of food related television advertising has

decreased in recent years, social media advertising has greatly increased. Most of these

advertisements are directly focused on children by buying advertising space on websites

that children view (Powell, 2013).

News Media

The news media is generally the mode by which the media is able to discuss obesity

and the media affects on obesity. News media tend to dramatize the situation in order to

increase viewership (Saguy, 2008). Saguy also states that the news media generally blames

food companies for the effects on childhood obesity rather than the media themselves.

For ways to confront childhood obesity, the news media generally focuses on

individual remedies rather than focusing on the media industry and what they should do to

halt or slow down their effects (Saguy, 2010). Just like dramatization, taking blame for the

problem would possibly limit viewership and thus limit revenue. Since news media


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companies goals are to make a profit, making content that increases viewership and does

not threaten their revenue is usually produced.

Evaluation

Introduction

From the research I have conducted I believe that the media does a good job in

providing information about the medias role in childhood obesity. The articles that I have

found that cover this topic contain either expert opinions or are based on studies

conducted by experts. The media demonstrates what is occurring in society and puts the

blame on each of its contributing factors.

Coverage

One issue the media has is providing this information without losing revenue from

advertisers, who are often to blame in this situation. Because of this, the media blame the

individual or companies they are not associated with. The media tend to dramatize the

issues surrounding childhood obesity in order to increase viewership and increase

revenue. By individualizing the problem to the consumers, the media helps the public

become aware of the issues surround the topic and provides some solutions to the

problem. The media generally focuses on factors that individuals can control, such as

exercise and diet, in order to help make the stories more relatable to the individual.

To improve coverage on this topic, the news media needs to take blame for their

addition to the problem. The news media is a contributing factor with their advertisements

and the time spent sedentarily watching, reading or listening to content. They also must

take some responsibility for the increased number of screens in the household, which

promote sedentary lifestyles and viewership of their own content. Unfortunately reporting


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on this area conflicts with the revenue of the media companies, thus making it difficult to

report on and more difficult for producers to find the space or time to deliver such a

message.

Scholarly and Journalistic Knowledge

Childhood obesity has become a very popular topic among scholars and the general

public in recent years. Scholars have focused on the effects of obesity and what causes

obesity. While they have focused most of their attention in this area, there is little

information on what alternatives media companies can pursue in order to decrease their

negative effect on childhood obesity. They point out what is the cause, but a solution has

not been found for the industry, only individual ways in which the general public can avoid

this influence and restrictions that should be placed on media content.

Journalists are not going to conduct these studies. They rely on scholarly research in

order to report on and change their practices. Knowledge must be formed at the scholarly

level for the media to deliver these messages to the general public. This information must

also be presented in a way where the media companies do not lose revenue. If the

information provided by scholars is negative toward media companies, it is difficult for the

information to be provided by the mass media. The information must be in a context where

the media companies can angle the content in a positive direction for themselves.

Conclusion

Childhood obesity is one of the largest and fastest growing medical issues in the

United States. The percentage of children who are obese is increasing at an alarming rate,

and some of the blame must be put on the media for their effects on children and society.

By providing reliable and quality information to the public, the media can help politicians


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pass legislation that can help change our culture, provide examples of healthy lifestyles and

limit the persuasive effects that the media has on the issue. We know how and why

childhood obesity occurs, but finding an economically viable to attack the causes of

childhood obesity has still yet to be found and utilized. By continuing the promotion of

poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle the media will continue to contribute to childhood

obesity, thus continue the trend of making the United States an unhealthier environment to

live in.


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References

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013, July 10). Childhood obesity facts. Retrievedfrom http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (nd).Facts about obesity in the United States.Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pdf/facts_about_obesity_in_the_united_states.pdf

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Preventing childhood obesity through state policy: Qualitative assessment of enablers and

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Lallanilla M. (2013, Feb. 24). Obesity among kids: A media problem? Retrieved from:http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Living/story?id=118227

Lets Move. (nd)Learn the facts. Retrieved from http://www.letsmove.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity

Powell, L.M. (2013). Food marketing expenditures aimed at youth: Putting the numbers incontext.American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(4), 453-461. Retrieved from:

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Childhood Obesity in the Media-docx