Center on Media and Child Health

Research Wrap-Up: March 27, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

D'Alessio, M., Laghi, F., &  Baiocco, R. (2009). Attitudes toward TV advertising: A measure for children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 18 March.

• To assess children's attitude toward TV advertising.

Holder, M.D., Coleman, B., & Sehn, Z.L. (2009). The contribution of active and passive leisure to children's well-being. J Health Psychol. 14(3), 378-86.

• To explore how active leisure (physical activity) and passive leisure (television and video games) is associated with children's well-being.

Lanningham-Foster,L., Foster, R.C. McCrady, S.K., Jensen, T.B., Mitre, N., Levine, J.A.(2009). Activity-promoting video games and increased energy expenditure. The Journal of Pediatrics, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 March.

• To test the hypothesis that both children and adults would expend more calories and move more while playing activity-promoting video games compared with sedentary video games.

Liu, F. (2009). It is not merely about life on the screen: Urban Chinese youth and the Internet cafe. Journal of Youth Studies, 12 (2), 167-184.

• The study explores the importance of wangba (Internet cafe) as place for relation and online community for Chinese youth.

Sherriff, A., Maitra, A., Ness, A.R., Mattocks, C., Riddoch, C., Reilly, J.J.,  et. al. (2009). Association of duration of television viewing in early childhood with the subsequent development of asthma.Thorax, 64 (4), 321-325

• To investigate whether duration of television (TV) viewing in young children is associated with subsequent development of asthma.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Using Media to Show Instead of Tell

Last week, we blogged about an op-ed on photo retouching and body image by filmmaker Jesse Epstein.  Here, Jesse joins us as a guest blogger to expand upon the educational efforts she is working on. 

I spent my formative childhood years in Mozambique Africa, where full bodies and “child bearing hips” were celebrated. When I returned to the US as a pre-teen I was confused to find my friends obsessed with their weight, counting calories, and saying that they “hated their thighs”. I admired their magazine collages of models with flat bellies and joined my peers in the fight to stay slim. But this post isn’t just about my personal story, it’s about a public health issue.

People living in media-saturated cultures are exposed to hundreds of idealized images per day through advertising and magazines; almost all of which have been altered to perfection.  According to a magazine photo re-toucher I interviewed,

“Every picture has been worked on some twenty to thirty rounds, going back between the re-touchers and the agencies and the clients – they have been perfected to death. Just look at the magazines, and all that is there to alter your mind, alter your perception of what physical beauty is, and what the means of obtaining it are.” 

When even the models and actors themselves don’t “measure up” to their own perfected images, it is crucial for people to understand how images are constructed, and what massages they are sending. Providing the tools to examine these media messages, through Media Literacy, is pivotal at this point in time.

Many problems and poor choices, especially among teens and pre-teens, can be traced to poor self-esteem and the inability to reach an unrealizable ideal. These may include the decision to smoke, participate in unsafe sex and early sexual initiation, academic failure, and other very risky, often life-threatening, behaviors.

I strive, through the power of film, to tell stories than can show rather than tell. While mass media is often pegged as a culprit of social ills, it can also play a key role in education toward behavioral change.  So, I’m currently creating a series of films on media and physical perfection to be used as powerful public health tools –- to start often-difficult discussions, raise consciousness, and ultimately empower youth to make healthy choices.  I hope they are used by as many educators as possible.

34x25x36 - A documentary about mannequins and perfection.

Wet Dreams and False Images - Interviews with photo re-touchers expose how much alteration goes on before an ad is released.

The Guarantee - A dancer's story about his prominent nose and the effect it has on his career.

More information about Jesse's work:

>> Jesse's website

>> New Day Films

 

 

Research Wrap-Up: March 20, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

D'Alessio, M., Laghi, F., Baiocco, R. (2009). Attitudes toward TV advertising: A measure for children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, In Press, available online 18 March.

• To describe a new self-report measure of children's attitudes toward TV advertising.

Ferguson, C.J. & Kilburn, J.(2009). The public health risks of media violence: A meta-analytic review.The Journal of Pediatrics, in press, available online February 23.

• To conduct a meta-analytic review of studies that examine the impact of violent media on aggressive behavior.

Hoffman, L.H. &  Thomson, T.L. (2009). The effect of television viewing on adolescents' civic participation: Political efficacy as a mediating mechanism. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,  53(1), 3-21.

• To assess the effects of television viewing (late-night TV and local TV news) on high school students' civic participation.

Knutson, K.L. & Lauderdale, D.S. (2009). Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of bed time and wake time among US adolescents aged 15 to 17 Years.The Journal of Pediatrics, 154(3), 426-430.

• To examine bed times and wake times in US adolescents aged 15 to 17 years to determine whether adolescent sleep has changed in recent years and what factors determine bed times and wake times.

Primack, B.A., Douglas, E.L., Fine, M.J., Dalton, M.A.(2009). Exposure to sexual lyrics and sexual experience among urban adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(4), 317-323.

• To determine if exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex in popular music is independently associated with sexual behavior in a cohort of urban adolescents.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

 

Research Wrap-Up: March 13, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Bijvank, M. N., Konijn, E.A., Bushman, B. J., & Roelofsma, P.(2009). Age and violent-Content labels make video games forbidden fruits for youth. Pediatrics, 123(3), 870-876.

• To test the hypothesis that the Pan European Game Information classification system may actually increase the attractiveness of games for children younger than the age rating system.

Byrne, S. (2009). Media Literacy Interventions: What Makes Them Boom or Boomerang? Communication Education, 58(1), 1-14.

• To compare the effectiveness of two versions of a media literacy/instructional intervention designed to reduce the negative effects of media violence over time.

Engels, R., Hermans, R.,van Baaren, R.,Hollenstein, T., &  Bot, S.M. (2009). Alcohol Portrayal on Television Affects Actual Drinking Behaviour.  Alcohol and Alcoholism. Available online March 9.

• To test whether portrayal of alcohol images in movies and commercials on television promotes actual drinking.

Hanewinkel, R. &  and Sargent, J.D.  (2009). Longitudinal study of exposure to entertainment media and alcohol use among German adolescents. Pediatrics, 123(3), 989-995.

• To determine if entertainment media exposure may predict teenager alcohol use in Germany.

Rosenkoetter, L.I.,  Rosenkoetter, S.E. & Acock, A.C. (2009).Television violence: An intervention to reduce its impact on children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 9 March.

• To implement a classroom-based intervention (grades 1to 4) to attempt to minimize the adverse effects of television violence.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Achieving Perfect Beauty with an Airbrush

Filmmaker Jesse Epstein recently published a video Op-Ed on the New York Times website.  This behind-the-scenes talk with real photo retouchers explores how pervasive this practice is within the beauty industry, and how it affects people's perceptions of their own beauty. 

In the video she mentions a 2007 study which found that just 3 minutes of looking at fashion magazines reduced college women's self-esteem.

So how can we protect the self-esteem of the young people we know?  By teaching them how photos are altered, they can begin to see how many media images are not representations of reality.  See our previous post on other examples of photo retouching and share them with a young person you know. 

Hint: Seeing videos like these, that look "behind-the-scenes", make young people feel empowered; now they know what's really going on and they won't be fooled again...

Research Wrap-Up: March 6, 2009

This week, exciting new studies with a focus on children and the media were published in the latest issues of American Behavioral Scientist, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, and Pediatrics.

Research highlights:

American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 52, No. 8, April 2009

• This special  issue addresses methodology, research, and issues and challenges to assess the effects of media on children.

British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Volume 27, Number 1, March 2009

• This special issue is dedicated to young people and the media and addresses issues such as infant word learning from television, alcohol advertising on television, and use of home computers by adolescents.

Schmidt, M.E., Rich, M.,  Rifas-Shiman, S.L., Oken, E. & Elsie M. Taveras, E.L. (2009). Television Viewing in Infancy and Child Cognition at 3 Years of Age in a US Cohort. Pediatrics, 123(3),  e370-e375.

• This study looked at the extent to which infant television viewing is associated with language and visual motor skills at 3 years of age.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

TV for Infants: Helpful, Harmful, or Neither?

Parents are always looking to know what is best for their infants' developing brains.  One question that often comes up is whether exposing children to TV will help them learn or prevent them from doing so. 

In this month's issue of Pediatrics, CMCH researchers Dr. Marie Evans Schmidt and Dr. Michael Rich were part of a group of authors who tackled this question.  After looking at data about the TV viewing habits, vocabulary, and motor skills of several hundred infants, they found that babies who watched TV were no better or worse off after two years than those who didn't.  

Given these results, CMCH recommends that:

1. Whenever possible, limit television viewing for children under 2 years old.  Instead, provide lots of opportunities for your children to interact with their environment -- chances to handle objects, solve open-ended problems, and play with adults and other children.
2. If or when your children do watch TV, choose age-appropriate, non-violent, educational programs.

>> Video: Dr. Michael Rich on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
>> Video: Dr. Marie Evans Schmidt discussing the study
>> Time Magazine: TV for Babies
>> CMCH Website: Learn more about media and infants