There is strong evidence indicating that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing among black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. Despite this rise in prevalence, there is a paucity of research relating to ethnicity and IBD outside the USA. Furthermore, the symptoms of IBD are reported to start during childhood or adolescence in 20-25% of people with the condition. It is therefore important that young people's experiences of diagnosis, treatment and living with IBD are fully understood to ensure effective services and information provision. The study reported on in this paper was commissioned by a UK charity (Crohn's and Colitis UK) with the aim of increasing understanding of the specific issues and service needs of young people with IBD from BME communities. Empirical research entailed in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 young people from BME groups accessed through gastroenterology departments at three collaborating NHS hospitals in England serving ethnically diverse populations. Interviews were carried out from June to December 2010 and sought to capture young people's views with IBD. A thematic analysis of their experiences identified many commonalities with other young people with IBD, such as the problematic route to formal diagnosis and the impact of IBD on education. The young people also experienced tensions between effective self-management strategies and cultural norms and practices relating to food. Moreover, the ability of parents to provide support was hampered for some young people by the absence of culturally competent services that were responsive to the families' communication needs. The findings highlight the need for more culturally appropriate information concerning IBD, and improved responsiveness to young people with IBD within primary care and the education system, as well as culturally competent messaging relating to the specific nature of the condition among the wider South Asian and black communities.

The effects of television advertising Dear Santa: The effects of television advertising on young children. AbstractEvery day children are exposed to the selling messages of advertisers via the television.There is some debate in the literature over the age at which young children can distinguish television advertisements from programmes, when they can remember and want what they see and when they are able to understand that the advertiser's motive is to sell a product. Resolution of the debate has been hampered by methodological difficulties and paradigms which fail to fully capture and explain children's responses to advertisements. This study uses a novel and ecologically valid method of measuring how toy advertising affects children by studying their requests to Father Christmas, monitoring toy commercials and collecting television viewing data.Eighty three children aged from 4.8 to 6.5 years, who had written letters to Father Christmas, were interviewed regarding the extent and nature of their television viewing. Letters and similar data were also analysed for 16 nursery school children, aged 3.8 to 4.8 years, using questionnaire responses from their parents. Overall, children who watched more commercial television were found to request a greater number of items from Father Christmas. These children also requested more branded items than children who watched less. However, the children's requests did not correlate significantly with the most frequently advertised toy products on television in the buildup to Christmas. Almost 90% of the toys advertised did not feature once in the children's letters, suggesting that recall for specific brand names is poor in the under-sevens. A positive correlation was found between watching television alone and number of requests, suggesting that lone viewing may render children more susceptible to advertising. A comparison group of children from Sweden, where advertising to children is not permitted, asked for significantly fewer items.The data suggest that English children who watch more TV, and especially those who watch alone, may be socialised to become consumers from a very early age. 2The effects of television advertising

Few studies have investigated children's responses to television alcohol advertising. Two separate studies evaluated the appeal of alcohol advertisements on children aged 7-10. An exploratory interview study (N = 17) was carried out to assess children's verbal responses to both alcohol and non-alcohol advertisements and to elicit vocabulary to be used in the second study. Whilst the 7- 8-years-old children were very positive about the alcohol advertisements, older children did not like them, nor did they perceive them to be effective. The second study was designed to assess children's implicit knowledge, in view of developmental theory that knowledge is not always available for verbal report. This study (N = 179) used a simple categorization programme on computer. Using this methodology, children of all ages liked the alcohol advertisements and perceived them as effective. Advertising styles affected popularity with humour, cartoon format or the inclusion of an animal, or character increasing the appeal of an advertisement. The discussion draws attention to the importance of multiple methodologies in eliciting valid and accurate information from children, and to policy matters with regard to alcohol advertising regulation.

This study asks whether exposure to images of chocolate induces cravings and guilty feelings in females. A further aim was to examine whether these effects are heightened in the case of dieters. The participants, 85 females, saw a series of enticing media images, either of chocolate or of non-food products. Two thirds of the sample were dieting or had dieted in the past; 15% had been on seven or more diets. After viewing the images all participants completed the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire (ACQ) (Benton, Greenfield, & Morgan, 1998). The different conditions affected only those who dieted. Dieters had significantly higher ACQ scores after viewing the chocolate images than the non-dieters. It is suggested that dietary restriction increases desire for forbidden foods, in the form of craving, and may induce negative affect such as guilt, anxiety and depression.(138 words)

Children in the United Kingdom watch more television and are exposed to more advertising than children in any other European country. This article investigates the extent to which preschool children (aged 4-5 years) prefer brands advertised on television. Seventy-five children were interviewed and given a choice task in which they had to select the product, from eight pairs each comprising a branded and nonbranded product, that children of their own age and gender preferred. Products included popular drinks, snacks, toys, breakfast cereals, and sportswear. Nonbranded control products were carefully selected as close perceptual matches for the branded advertised products. Yet, on 68% of occasions, children chose the branded, advertised product in preference to the nonbranded product. This preference was reliably higher for girls (78%) than boys (58%). Gender-linked differences are discussed in relation to socialization theory and to girls' greater verbal ability and emotional sensitivity.