Reporting diet-related health issues through newspapers: portrayal of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes

Abstract

This study identifies (i) the extent to which newsprint media communicate to their readers the lifestyle factors associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes and (ii) newspaper portrayal of social determinants affecting onset of disease. A content analysis of five leading UK national newspapers and their Sunday equivalents was conducted over a 3-month period between January and March 2008. This study shows that cardiovascular disease had much higher press interest than Type 2 diabetes. 'Middle-market' and 'Quality' papers had higher levels of reporting than the 'Popular' press, but the patterns were more complex when the comprehensiveness of reporting was measured within each article. Social determinants affecting disease onset were poorly reported by newspapers, supporting similar research conducted in other countries. This research identifies that there is potential for newspapers to improve their reporting of lifestyle diseases, by including individual and social determinants of disease onset. Lower social classes who read the popular press receive the lowest frequency of reporting and could benefit most from this information. While the research identifies that newspapers are missing the potential to actively communicate and reinforce government health policy, it recognises that the commercial context of the print media may counter such behaviour.

Mediating the spaces of diet and health: A critical analysis of reporting on nutrition and colorectal cancer in the UK

“…This supports previous research which has shown that when reporting cancer research and research into diet--related conditions such as cardio--vascular disease and obesity, media coverage tends to focus responsibility disproportionately on the individual rather than framing the issue as the responsibility of the state or civil society (Lawrence, 2004, Hilton et al 2012, Hellyer and Haddock--Fraser 2011, Clarke and Everest 2006. In addition a health geography perspective was lacking in the coverage of this research despite the volume of work linking place and space to health (Kearns, 1993;Brown and Duncan, 2002;Cummins et al 2007) and evidence showing a differentiation in bowel cancer incidence between northern and southern parts of the UK (Cancer Research UK, 2016) as well as a small association between deprivation and incidence of bowel cancer for men (Cancer Research UK, 2016).…”

“…I seek to extend this argument by applying this concept of geographies of responsibility to the way responsibility for diet is placed and framed in newspaper coverage of nutrition research into bowel cancer and by examining whether the UK news media reinforces an individualistic approach in its coverage of diet--related cancer prevention research. This has already been shown to be the case for obesity, type--2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, where media coverage has been shown to focus responsibility for these diet--related conditions disproportionately on the individual rather than framing the issue as the responsibility of the state, industry or civil society (Lawrence, 2004, Hellyer and Haddock--Fraser 2011, Hilton et al 2012. Similarly, research into media coverage of cancer also identified frequent and overt individualistic framing of cancer as opposed to offering a community perspective Everest, 2006, Clarke andvan Amerom 2008).…”

Workers' Knowledge and Beliefs About Cardiometabolic Health Risk

“…37 In this respect, it is encouraging that a substantial percentage of employees did identify overweight as a diabetes risk factor, a factor that steadily receives more media attention. that the public has adequately learned about CVD risk through intensive educational messages, while coverage of diabetes and kidney disease risk has been more rare.…”

Prevalence and Framing of Health Disparities in Local Print News: Implications for Multilevel Interventions to Address Cancer Inequalities

“…Importantly, however, most content analyses have focused on national and/or regional newspapers, including in the U.S. (7, 9, 10), United Kingdom (11), and Canada (12). To date, there has been minimal attention to disparities/SDH coverage in local print news.…”