Health Communications Program Area
TV is among the most important forces that influence dietary behaviors on a global scale, and it promotes inactivity. Both children and adults are exposed to an almost continuous stream of TV messages about food, especially foods high in fat, sugar, and/or salt. Frequent TV viewing and/or exposure to low-nutrition foods is related to children’s preferences for unhealthy foods and to poor eating habits. Large (TV, newspapers, movies) and small (CD-ROMs and tailored communication) media channels can be harnessed as tools to promote obesity prevention and treatment. TV has contributed to the obesity epidemic, but it could be used to promote social and individual changes consistent with obesity prevention/treatment. There have been few concerted, large-scale efforts to apply mass media interventions, alone or in combination with other interventions, to change diet and physical activity patterns—certainly none with the kind of substantial statewide investment, reach, and impact of recent tobacco campaigns. Other ubiquitous forms of communication, such as food labeling and packaging, could be used to change knowledge and behaviors and could be integrated at the point of purchase to encourage healthier dietary choices.
Members of this program area are:
| Marci K. Campbell, co-head Nutrition |
multi-level community interventions to promote healthy eating and physical activity |
| Deb Tate, co-head Health Behavior and Health Education/Nutrition |
clinical psychology techniques applied to large scale obesity prevention and weight maintenance programs |
| Paul Bloom Fuqua School of Business, Duke University |
marketing; industry behavior and social policy |
| Jane Brown Journalism and Mass Communication |
mass media effects on health behavior |
| Felicia Mebane Health Policy and Administration |
determinants of mass media behavior related to obesity |
| Kurt Ribisl Health Behavior and Health Education |
interventions to reduce youth risky behaviors; Internet delivered interventions |
