Center on Media and Child Health

CMCH Database: Full-Text Availability

The CMCH Database of Research (DoR) is a database of citations on children, media and health and it's freely available online.  You can read the abstracts and in the process of adding new citations to the database, we try to find free full-text version of the article and make it available within the citation record.

Now let's try out a real search and see what we can find! 

 I’ve decided that I want to do a search about advertisements and television:

1. I enter the word advertisements into a search box and enter television into another search box.
2. I change the Boolean operator to AND, so that I am doing a search for advertisement AND television.
3. I leave the drop-down menu on All Fields. 
4. I limit my search to to Experimental Studies.

To find free full-text:

• In your search results, click to view the individual citation record
• Look at the bottom of the screen
• If  "Full Text Available" is highlighted, the full-text is available for your to read!

Here is a sample of the search results that include Full Text Available:

• Advertising influences on young children’s food choices and parental influence
• Television watching increases motivated responding for food and energy intake in children
• Violence and sex in television programs do not sell products in advertisements
• Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children
• The effect of "thin ideal" television commercials on body dissatisfaction and schema activation during early adolescence

Now go ahead and try out your own search! If you have any questions about the CMCH Database of Research,  please do not hesitate to e-mail us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-February 8

Check out recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Arvaniti, F., et al. (2011). Salty-snack eating, television or video-game viewing, and asthma symptoms among 10- to 12-year-old children: The PANACEA study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(2), 251-257.

• This study found that salty-snack consumption was positively associated with the hours of television/video-game viewing. Consumption of salty snacks (>3 times/week vs never/rare) was associated with a 4.8-times higher likelihood of having asthma symptom.

Coyne, S.M.; Padilla-Walker, L.M. ; Stockdale, L.;& Day, R.D. (2011). Game on...girls: Associations between co-playing video games and adolescent behavioral and family outcomes. The Journal of Adolescent Health. Published online February 3.

• The study authors found that co-playing video games with parents was associated with decreased levels of internalizing and aggressive behaviors, and heightened prosocial behavior for girls.

Dovey, T.M.; Taylor, L.; Stow, R.; Boyland, E.J.; & Halford, J.C. (2011). Responsiveness to healthy television (TV) food advertisements/commercials is only evident in children under the age of seven with low food neophobia. Appetite, Online jan 20

• This study found that children with low levels of food neophobia (fear of trying new foods) appear to respond to healthy food messages but children with higher levels of food neophobia do not. Instead, high food neophobic children will continue to consume more chocolate following exposure to food adverts irrespective of the healthy or unhealthy message they contain.

Kanthan, R. & Senger, J-L. (2011). The impact of specially designed digital games-based learning in undergraduate pathology and medical education. Arch Pathol Lab Med, 135(1),135-42.

• This study found that specially constructed digital games-based learning in undergraduate pathology courses showed improved academic performance engagement, increased student engagement, enhanced personal learning, and reduced student stress.

Morgenstern, M.; Isensee, B.; Sargent, J.D.; &  Hanewinkel, R. (2011).Exposure to alcohol advertising and teen drinking. Preventive Medicine, 52(2),146-151.

• This study found a positive association between exposure to alcohol advertising and multiple youth drinking outcomes, showing that the association is content-specific, not just a function of general ad exposure.

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-January 13

New published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Anderson, L. M. & Anderson, J. (2010). Barney and breakfast: Messages about food and eating in preschool television shows and how they may impact the development of eating behaviours in children. Early Child Development and Care,180(10), 1323-1336.

• This study  found that non-nutritious foods  that appear in preschool children’s television shows are as common as nutritious foods and the consumption of non-nutritious food is usually reinforced.

Becker et al. (2011). Social network media exposure and adolescent eating pathology in Fiji. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 198(1),43-50

• The authors found that social network media exposure was associated with eating pathology in this group of adolescent female ethnic Fijians.

Jordan, A.; Bleakley, A.; Manganello, J; Hennessy, M.; Steven,  R., & Fishbein, M. (2010). The role of television access in the viewing time of US adolescents. Journal of Children and Media,  4(4), 355-370.

• The authors found that for adolescents having greater access to TV (number of televisions in the home, having a bedroom TV, and subscribing to premium cable/satellite channels)  was significantly associated with increased television viewing time.

Mendelsohn, A.L., Dreyer, B.P. ; Brockmeyer, C.A.; Berkule-Silberman, S.B.; Huberman, H.S. & Tomopoulos, S.(2011). Randomized controlled trial of primary care pediatric parenting programs: Effect on reduced media exposure in infants, mediated through enhanced parent-child interaction. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 165(1), 42-48.

• This study found that exposure to Video Interaction Project intervention was associated with reduced total duration of media exposure compared with other interventions and control groups. Enhanced parent-child interactions were found to partially mediate relations between VIP and media exposure for families with a ninth grade or higher literacy level .

Sandberg, H.; Gidlof, K. & Holmberg, N.(2011). Children's exposure to and perceptions of online advertising. International Journal of Communication, 5, 21-50.

• The study results suggest that Swedish teenagers are exposed to 10% of all the potential advertisements, but they are mainly unaware of this actual exposure. Food advertisements had the highest impact. FULL TEXT.

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-October 27

New published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Dumith, S.C., Hallal, P.C., Menezes, A.M., & Araújo, C.L. (2010). Sedentary behavior in adolescents: The 11-year follow-up of the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study. Cad Saude Publica, 26(10),1928-1936. FREE ARTICLE

• The authors found that these 11-year-olds spent extensive time at TV viewing, videogames, and the computer. Prevalence of sedentary behavior was 79.7% and showed a positive association with socioeconomic level and nutritional status and a negative association with well-being.

Moody,A.K.; Justice, L.M.; & Cabell, S.Q. (2010). Electronic versus traditional storybooks: Relative influence on preschool children’s engagement and communication. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10(3), 294-313.

• Findings showed that when comparing media, children displayed higher levels of persistence during the adult led e-storybook compared to the adult led traditional storybook condition. However, children produced more communicative initiations during the adult led traditional storybook condition.

Suh, S.; Kim,   S.W.; & Kim, N.J. (2010). Effectiveness of MMORPG-based instruction in elementary English education in Korea. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5), 370–378.

• The results of the study indicated that students studying English utilizing online role-playing games showed higher scores in areas of listening, reading, and writing than those who attended face-to-face instruction classes.

Terry-McElrath, Y.M., Emery, S., Szczypka, G., & Johnston, L.D. (2010). Potential exposure to anti-drug advertising and drug-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among United States youth, 1995-2006. Addict Behav. Available online Oct 7.

• This study revealed that substance use outcomes were significantly related to anti-drug advertising. The findings differed markedly between middle and high school students.

Yamada-Rice, D. (2010). Beyond words: An enquiry into children’s home visual communication practices
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10(3), 341-363.

• The researcher looked at the role of visual and digital images in a group of four-year-olds’ out-of-school lives and found this multilingual and ethnically diverse group of children, to be using a wide range of media, including cameras, television, DVD, drawing, websites, picture books and comics.

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

New Study: Alcohol Advertising on Public Transportation

Since we're located in Boston, we were thrilled to see a study in this month's American Journal of Public Health about alcohol advertising on Boston's public transportation system, the MBTA.  CMCH asked author Michael Siegel, MD MPH to be a guest blogger and tell us more about what he found.  Dr. Siegel is a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and the author of Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change.

Every day, approximately 9,600 Boston schoolchildren take the T (short for the MBTA - Boston’s public transit system) to and from school. What their parents may not realize is that while en route, these kids are bombarded with alcohol advertising, thanks to the state of Massachusetts’ willingness to allow its property to be used for the marketing of alcohol to youths. Our study, which I co-authored with three students at the Boston University School of Public Health, revealed that through the MBTA subway trains, alcohol companies are able to achieve, in a single day, the same amount of advertising exposure among Boston youths as if they took out 5.5 Super Bowl commercials.

We studied the extent of alcohol advertising on the T by surveying four consecutive trains on each of the four subway lines on two separate occasions, one month apart. We found that on average:

• each subway car contains two advertisements
• these ads result in 18,000 alcohol ad exposures among Boston schoolchildren ages 11-18 each day
• on a typical day, alcohol companies are able to achieve the equivalent of exposing 54% of Boston youths to alcohol advertising, all thanks to the state’s willingness to allow its property to be used for alcohol marketing purposes.

These ads are clearly designed to appeal to youths and to entice them to use alcohol before they reach the legal age of alcohol purchase, which is 21. For example, one advertisement we found on the T showed a college student arriving to move in to his dorm. The two essential items depicted for move-in day were his furniture and a larger-than-life bottle of Absolut vodka.

A large body of evidence demonstrates that these alcohol ads not only appeal to kids, but they also influence adolescents’ decisions to start drinking. In other words, by allowing alcohol ads on the MBTA, the state is allowing its property to be used for the recruitment of new youth drinkers.

Massachusetts state representative Martin Walsh has introduced legislation that would eliminate alcohol advertising on state property. The bill (H-1113) is currently being considered by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

In the mean time, the state continues to allow the promotion of underage drinking on state property through the daily bombardment of youths by alcohol advertisements on the MBTA subway system.

 

Behind the Scenes of Children’s TV

The following was written by guest blogger Carolyn Lertzman, a former CMCH intern who went on to work behind the scenes of children's television.  Here, she gives us an inside look at her fascinating job.  

When your kids watch their favorite TV shows, have you ever wondered how these programs make it on the air?  Sure, there are writers, producers, cast and crew that create what you see on the screen, but did you know there is also a group of professionals tracking the shows you and your family love as they develop?  These professionals are otherwise known as the folks in Standards and Practices—and, I am one such professional.  Our job is assuring that the content you watch on television and online upholds the standards of our network, appropriately reflects the brand associated with our network, and abides by related federal laws, while still being entertaining and educational.

In our department, colleagues are assigned to specific series or movies and are part of the many stages that happen to get a show aired: from the development of the premise to the working out of a storyboard to the writing of a script to the final product that runs on TV.  Depending on the target audience and the show itself, we provide notes that will help the show reflect the standards I mentioned before.  For example we comment on things such as whether the dialogue is appropriate for the audience, whether the wardrobe matches standards we’ve agreed to, and whether the actions of the characters are something kids might imitate and could possibly be hurt by doing.

One of the most interesting types of guidelines we have to accommodate are those from the Federal Communications Commission.  The FCC notes that children have difficulty determining when a television show ends and a commercial begins.  Therefore guidelines require that we use “bumpers” to assist the child in making the visual transition between the show and the commercials, so that we do not falsely persuade them to purchase items they may believe are a continuation of the show.

For me, one of the most exciting aspects of this profession is that as new trends emerge in popular culture and world affairs—including new media platforms and developments in public health -- the standards by which we review a program also evolve.  I really enjoy being able to say that my job is to review content to make sure it is safe and healthy for our audiences to watch.

New Legislation Regulates Tobacco Marketing

This morning, President Obama signed legislation that gives the FDA the ability to regulate tobacco marketing.  They are expected to take a number of measures to reduce tobacco advertising to youth:

• Most cigarette ads will be limited to black-and-white text only (which may face free-speech challenges)
• Outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds is banned (though research shows that there is still a lot of advertising in neighborhoods near these schools)
• Tobacco-brand sponsorships of sports and entertainment events will be stopped (research shows that teens who watched a tobacco-sponsored sports event were more likely to experiment with tobacco)

Q: What do you get when you cross a Hollywood filmmaker with a pediatrician?

A: The Mediatrician^SM

Q:  How do I deal with inappropriate commercials during sports TV?

Q:  My 2 year old was scared by a movie, what do I do?

Q:  How much TV is too much TV?

From cyberbullying and violent video games to social networking and sexting, parents are overwhelmed by the new media environment and how it affects their children. To help parents navigate this new and changing landscape, CMCH is excited to announce the launch of Ask the Mediatrician ^SM.

Pediatrician, former Hollywood producer, parent, and CMCH founder Dr. Michael Rich
turns research-based recommendations into action steps parents can take in order to make media a positive and healthful encounter for their families.   

Also, check out our new and improved homepage!

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

 

 

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...