Center on Media and Child Health

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Take a look at some of the latest studies added to the CMCH Database!

Bleakley, A., et al. (2008). It works both ways: The relationship between exposure to sexual content in the media and adolescent sexual behavior. Media Psychology, 11(4), 443-461.

• Adolescents who are sexually active are more likely to look at media with sexual content, say the researchers.

Christison, A., & Khan, H.A. (2012). Exergaming for health: A community-based pediatric weight management program using active video gaming. Clinical Pediatrics, 51(4), 382-388.

• Community-based programs to target obesity, especially one that includes an exergame, could be effective in reducing overweight, this study says.

Lapierre, M., et al. (2011). Influence of licensed spokescharacters and health cues on children's ratings of cereal taste. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 165(3), 229-234.

• Characters can influence children's taste or distaste for breakfast cereal, whether or not the cereal is labeled as healthy or sugary, says this study.

Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2012). Understanding sexual objectification: A comprehensive approach toward media exposure and girls' internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 869-887.

• When it comes to most forms of media, the amount consumed relates to the internalization of beauty ideals for girls, researchers determined.

As always, if you're looking for more research on children, media, and health, take a look at the CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: Eating Disorders Awareness Week

From February 24 to March 2, we observe Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Here is some news, research, and media on the subject.

• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is sponsored by the National Eating Disorders Association. You can learn about them here.
• Have you heard of "pro-ana" websites? User-generated and maintained web communities, pro-anorexia sites offer encouragement and tips for those suffering from eating disorders to continue their habits. Check out a 2007 study on functions of such websites and a 2006 study that looked at which adolescents use these sites.
• "Recovery is absolutely possible, and with a supportive, loving family member like you on her side, the light at the end of the tunnel shines a little brighter," says an advice columnist to a girl worried that her sister has an eating disorder. Older girls give advice to younger girls on weight, body image, eating, and more on teen e-mag Rookie. 
• Consider taking a look at teen and children's fiction about eating disorders and body image for some new perspectives on the issue. For contemporary takes, recent titles include Butter by Erin Jade Lange (YA), Skinny by Donna Cooner (YA), and Perfect by Natasha Friend (middle grade). Some classic titles include Judy Blume's Blubber (middle grade), Fat Camp Commandoes by Daniel Pinkwater (middle grade), and Life in the Fat Lane (YA) by Cherie Bennett. You can also take a look at the Young Adult Library Services Association's blog post in honor of this week.
• Research in 2006 pointed to media literacy interventions as having a great positive effect on college-aged women's body image and eating disorder risk.
• Often people point to the images of women in the media as a huge contributor to eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. A 2006 study found that girls who were more interested in fashion images had higher body dissatisfaction than those interested in fitness images, while a 2003 study considered what these images of females say to boys and what they say to girls.
• Based on the comments on YouTube, R&B trio TLC's music video for "Unpretty" still hits a nerve with its honest lyrics about body and self image. 
• A literary magazine consisting completely of teen work since 1989, Teen Ink has published personal narratives of teens who have experienced eating disorders, including this essay on beating it.

Do you have resources or stories to share in honor of Eating Disorder Awareness Week? Let us know.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: World Diabetes Day Edition

Today CMCH recognizes World Diabetes Day. While this serious disease is growing at alarming rates due to higher rates of obesity, unhealthy diets, and sedentary lifestyles, there is, thankfully, lots of media attention and research dedicated to learning more about it and combatting its causes and effects.

• World Diabetes Day is an initiative of the International Diabetes Federation. You can read about today and the group's other projects and resources here.
• Along with other researchers, CMCH Director Dr. Michael Rich did a study on diabetic teens in which the teens were given a chance to make videotapes about their lives and experiences with the illness. You can read about the study here, or you can learn all about the VIA project and its other subjects here.
• Obesity leads to diabetes, and obesity rates are not blind to race, class, or ethnicity. In response to the data that African American and Latina/o teens are more likely to be obese than their peers of other backgrounds, USC researcher Donna Spruijt-Metz developed a mobile monitoring system for those teens that can be worn inobtrusively in order to take readings throughout the day on various vital signs and physical activity levels. The data was then sent back to the wearers with tips and summaries. In the focus group of 12 teens, Spruijt-Metz found that they had positive feelings about the devices. A similar project in 2008 looked at a text messaging service for adolescents already suffering from diabetes.
• The trend these days is to develop active games, or exergames, to encourage video game users and sedentary children and teens to get moving. But do they actually increase physical activity and improve health? CMCH has gathered research on the topic, including two studies from this year: 1, 2.
• Diabetes can sometimes be avoided or managed with a healthy diet, but it's hard to make that seem fun or feasible to all young people and families. With busy schedules, salaries that just won't stretch, and mixed messages from the media, it can be difficult to get started on that path. However, there are many magazines and websites for kids, teens, and families dedicated to cooking together and learning about where your food comes from. Check out Chop Chop Magazine, Ingredient magazine, CookingTeens.com, or KickinKitchen TV for great ideas to get started. With that in mind, take a look at this article on Readers to Eaters, an initiative that promotes food literacy as a road to good health and academic achievement.
• If you'd like to take a look at special populations and specific factors that can lead to diabetes or overweight, take a look at this study on American Indian and Alaska Native youth or this study on correlations between screen time and metabolic risk factors.

Have you found any other research or press that is acknowledging World Diabetes Day? Let us know!

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these studies of interest that were recently added to our database.

Durham, Meenakshi Gigi. (2011). Blood, lust and love: Interrogating gender violence in the Twilight phenomenon. The Journal of Children and Media, 6(3), 281-299.

• The researcher investigated the popular YA book series The Twilight Saga and looked at gender stereotypes and dating activities and customs. The author considered what influence the gender roles in the series might have on its readers.

Lwin, May O., & Malik, Shelly. (2011). The role of media exposure, peers, and family on body dissatisfaction amongst boys and girls in Singapore. Journal of Children and Media, 6(1), 69-82.

• Researchers surveyed 10- to 13-year-old children in Singapore to learn about their body image and body dissatisfaction. They found that both parents and peer groups have an effect on tweens and early adolescents' body image, as does media exposure.

McDermott, Jeanne T. (2011). Getting it on: An examination of how contraceptives are portrayed in young adult literature. Young Adult Library Services, 9(4), 47-53.

• The author of this study, a youth services librarian, analyzed the content of 25 YA novels published between 1995 and 2010 to determine what types of portrayals of contraceptive use each book contained. She determined that fiction alone was not a good enough resource for teens.

Mossle, Thomas, et al. (2010). Media use and school achievement--boys at risk? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(pt 3), 699-725.

• In this study, researchers looked at the connection between media use and academics. They found that boys who used media frequently were more likely than girls to have lower school achievement, especially when video and computer games were involved. They also found that children whose schools had a media literacy education program were more likely to have high achievement.

Wansink, B., et al. (2012). Can branding improve school lunches? Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 166(10), 967-968.

• This letter from the researchers described an experiment in which schoolchildren were given branded and unbranded food items, healthy and unhealthy, in an effort to determine whether the presence of a recognizable character, such as Elmo, would make them more likely to choose a certain item.

To find more studies on children, media, and health, click here to search our database.

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these studies of interest on the topics of children, media, and health that were recently added to the CMCH database:

Barroso, C.S., et al. (2011). Saturday morning television advertisements aired on English and Spanish language networks along the Texas-Mexico border. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 2(2), 1-22.

• This study analyzed food-related commercials aired during children's television programming in an area at high risk for obesity, the Texas-Mexico border. The researchers found that only a small amount of the total commercial time was dedicated to food advertisements, but of that portion, the majority of advertisements were for unhealthy foods.

Boisseau, C.L., et al. (2011). Representation of ideal figure size in Ebony magazine: A content analysis. Body Image, 8(4), 373-378.

• This study looked at issues published over the last couple of decades of Ebony magazine, a publication meant for African American women. They looked at female readers' reactions to diet- and exercise-related content, sizes and shapes of female models, and other factors. They concluded that the African American community may have more accepting attitudes about different body sizes and shapes, and that this was reflected in the magazine.

Devis-Devis, V.J., et al. (2012). Brief report: Association between socio-demographic factors, screen media usage and physical activity by type of day in Spanish adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(1), 213-218.

• This study looked at Spanish adolescents' leisure activities that were media-based and looked at associations between media usage and physical activity. Media usage/physical activity relationships depended on the type of media and whether it was a weekday or weekend.

Jones, R.K., & Biddlecom, A.E. (2011). Is the Internet filling the sexual health information gap for teens? An exploratory study. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, 16(2), 112-123.

• Researchers asked high school students whether they used the Internet to seek information on sexual health topics. They found that most students only used the Internet for this purpose when it was a school assignment, not when it was for their own interests. However, the researchers concluded that the Internet could be used as a way to offer sexual health information so long as teachers use media literacy training to help students assess the validity of websites.

 Young, R., et al. (2011). Keeping in constant touch: The predictors of young Australians' mobile phone involvement. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 333-342.

• This study looked at which characteristics were shared by teens who used mobile phones in Australia. They found that young people used mobile phones more. Interestingly, more positive self concept was correlated with higher phone usage as well. 

Looking for other studies? Click here to search the CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: Teen Read Week Edition

In honor of Teen Read Week (October 14-20), we are highlighting some recent news and studies available in our database that are related to children/adolescents and literacy, reading, books, and magazines.

• The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) sponsors Teen Read Week and has a website that will let you learn more about it, whether you're a librarian or not. They encourage teens to read any sort of media (print books, ebooks, magazines, graphic novels, etc) just for the fun of it. Their reasoning for a special week dedicated to encouraging teen engagement with literacy? "Although teens realize the importance of reading, they have a huge menu of activities to choose from when deciding how to spend their free time, and reading gets lost in the shuffle. Reading skills get rusty when they are not used. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports that over the last 20 years there have been only modest gains in reading achievement. And although there are many active literacy campaigns, very few efforts focus on teenagers."
• In a 2011 study, researchers asked children to watch television clips on literacy and assessed the children's reactions to them. They found that the children could remember and understand the clips, but they did not find any connection between watching the clips and changing opinions of literacy. Then again, only three years earlier, a study asked 4- to 8-year-old children what they thought of kids who read, kids who watched television, and kids who played video games. Their answers? Readers were "smart," TV fans "lazy," and gamers "bored."
• Children's and Young Adult (YA) novels are gaining in popularity, leading to fans of all ages. CMCH has been collecting content analyses and studies that look at how these books (and children's and teens' magazines) might portray things like substance use, thinness and beauty messages, violence, tobacco use, aggression, sexual initiation, and food advertising.
• Has your son/daughter/patient been spending more time on social networks not called Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace? If they're readers, they might be members of social reading sites, gaining in popularity, which are dedicated to reading lists, user book reviews, and community, all through shared reading experiences and interests. Popular sites include GoodReads, LibraryThing, Copia, and BookLamp.
• There's no doubt that different media messages can contribute to self-image. If you're interested in how this works in print media for young people, check out this study on portrayals of disability in picturebooks, one on magazine advertisements and body image, one on how media exposure affects sexual behavior in teens, and one on how reading can improve emotional health and school performance.

Do you have any plans for Teen Read Week?

Media in the Media - News We're Following

Here at CMCH, we're always finding news, websites, games, and other great stuff that promotes positive use of media, shows young people engaging with technology in creative ways, informs us of new studies underway, and highlights other items of interest to practitioners, researchers, parents, teachers, and advocates. Here are some of the things we're excited about lately.

• GenZPlay has developed an app for kids that only functions if they're doing physical activity. What an interesting way to make sure technology-loving kids go outside and play once in awhile!Available for iPhone, Big Cat Race pits the iPhone holder against a lion, leopard, or cheetah and encourages them to race.
• In a study titled "The New Definition of Childhood," The Global Kids Study found that kids use technology in a variety of positive ways, helping make this generation's world a lot smaller than it is for their parents.
• YA (young adult, meant for teens) literature has enjoyed a surge of popularity lately and is becoming more widely read by both tweens and adults. In these two posts at Teen Librarian's Toolbox, bloggers Christie and Karen discuss what the covers of YA books might say, imply, or promote about body image and size.
• The great accessibility of the Internet has led to crowdsourcing new musical albums, book reviews, and health information. Just take a look at Kickstarter, Goodreads, or HealthTap if you want to see how people of all backgrounds provide others--even if they don't know them in person--with everything from support for a business upstart to answers to common health questions. Now teens are doing that too, with the public launch of Hallway, a crowd-sourced homework help website.
• Confused about why so many girls love seemingly vapid and meaningless pop songs? This insightful essay about Taylor Swift, the guitar-playing young popstar known for writing songs about breakups and heartbreak (and directly naming her exes) talks about why Swift's lyrics really are quite accurate and pertinent to teen life.
• Those interested in understanding how teens use various forms of technology might be curious about the approach, opinions, and expertise of those who work with adolescents outside of the medical sphere. Professional magazine VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) provides freely available archives online of their column Tag Team Tech, which discusses everything from cyberbullying to pleasure reading to visual literacy. 
• With so many media messages about how girls should hate math or how computer programming is for boys, it's great to see this news about African American girls succeeding at and enjoying computer programming. The program Black Girls Code aims not only to educate and engage these girls but also to change their perspectives on what the stereotypical programmer looks and acts like, hoping to get a little more diversity into the field.
• GURL.com talks about why celebrity "bump watching" is silly, and they also take a jab at the idea that girls who don't watch their eating must be pregnant. Previously, though, they encouraged readers to speculate on whether actress and singer Selena Gomez, who was rushed to the hospital, was pregnant or just sick. What do you think tabloid media and reality shows that focus on pregnancy or pregnancy speculation do to the perceptions of the teens that read and watch them? P.S. If you want to see what else this site, frequented by teen girls and dedicated to everything from health tips to fashion, says, click on the links at the bottom of the article for "pregnant" and "pregnancy."

If you're looking for peer-reviewed articles and scholarly research, remember to check the CMCH database.

Media in the Media - News We're Following

While these aren't exactly research studies that we publish in our database, we think these newly published news articles, innovative games and websites, and other news might be of interest to you.

• They say generation Y is all about the Internet, but data shows that these people (those born from 1979-1989) bought the most books in 2011. We hope that means they're reading them, too. Remember, reading books of any kind contribute to increased academic success, civic engagement, and more. That's something pediatricians should be happy about.
• Ever heard of social essentialism? Researchers found that children who hear "generic language," like "Girls have long hair" or "Boys play rough," are more likely to grow up believing in stereotypes and essentialist ideas. Next time you're talking about healthy modeling with parents of your patients, you might want to talk about the language they're using.
• Earlier this month, Psychology Today published a piece on what parents can do to encourage their daughters not to get pregnant young--you know, aside from just telling them not to. You might be surprised at how much influence a parent can have simply by telling their daughters they are proud of their academic accomplishments or taking an active role in their dating life.
• Pew researchers consider the effect social media and mobile networking has on today's teens by looking at how it might have changed the lives of teens in the past. What would Juliet text to Romeo?
• In case you missed it, a 14-year-old girl recently used Internet media, in the form of Change.org, a social change social site that allows you to make petitions and share them with changemakers, to get Seventeen magazine to make a promise not to photoshop the bodies of the models they use. It's great to see teens use media positively and effectively and to take initiative to effect change they want to see, and it might be even sweeter to see how much they realize that body image and self esteem have a lot to do with images online and in magazines.
• This new app might encourage kids to spend more time on the iPad, but it does so by encouraging them to think about construction and mechanics by letting them build a virtual Rube Goldberg contraption.
• Being a techie doesn't have to mean never getting outside or being overweight. If you're looking for a way to encourage your patients to be active without sacrificing their interest in computers or apps, or if you're a parent looking for positive role models for your tech-savvy and creative kids, take a look at this list of the 35 fittest people in tech.

Remember, if you're looking for reports and studies on these subjects and more, you can check the CMCH Database of Research.

Someday Melissa: Making a Movie, Changing Lives

The power of media lies in the ability to engage people in a story and influence what they know and think about a particular issue.  When Judy Avrin lost her teen daughter, Melissa, to an eating disorder last year, she chose to use the power of media to tell her daughter's story to the world. 

Her documentary, Someday Melissa, recently received attention from the New York Times and The Today Show, and Judy is discovering that the work she is doing to honor her daughter is already changing lives. We asked Judy to write to us about her view on the power of media:

Someday...

I’ll eat breakfast.

I’ll keep a job for more than 3 weeks.

I’ll have a boyfriend for more than 10 days.

I’ll love someone.

I’ll travel wherever I want.

I’ll make my family proud.

I’ll make a movie that changes lives. 

When I found this writing in my daughter's journal after she died in 2009, I made the decision to go public that she died from an eating disorder. I began work on a documentary called Someday Melissa.  The recent media attention has resulted in an overwhelming response: hundreds of messages from around the world, thanking me for having the courage to speak out and bring eating disorders out of the shadows.  I’ve received messages that calls to helplines have increased, and that children have gone to their parents saying they didn’t really believe they could die and they need help.  

Never could I have imagined the power of media in helping others.  My sweet Melissa is changing lives with the media she dreamed of being part of.

If you are suffering with an eating disorder, or know somebody who is, there is help.  Reach out to the National Eating Disorder Association [NEDA] at http://nationaleatingdisorders.org, or call for assistance at 1-800-931-2237. 

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