Health and diet among young Hispanic and non-Hispanic women: Assessing the 2003 television food advertising environment

Obesity is a growing epidemic of considerable public health significance. While television is a primary source of health and nutrition information for many Americans, and studies demonstrate that food advertising does have an impact on food consumption behaviors, little research has examined the food advertising environments within mainstream and Hispanic televised media markets. This comparative content analysis was designed in part to further public health discourse regarding the impact of such advertising on health and the American diet, particularly within minority populations. The manuscript makes statistical comparisons in the use of persuasion appeals and nutrient profiles between both media environments.; Despite the significant risk of introducing information bias in large-scale content analyses, few resources offer a detailed explication of best practices in study design, sample selection, and data collection and management for such research. As such, the first paper in this three-paper dissertation series addresses this gap in the literature by clearly articulating the procedures followed by the principal investigator in conducting the comparative content analysis of Spanish- and English-language food advertising presented here. The paper also addresses how to avoid various sources of random and differential bias that can threaten the reliability and validity of findings.; The second paper of this series outlines the process of identifying and defining the coding instrument variables, as well as the theoretical foundations underpinning the research tool's development. Also discussed are the data management techniques used to ensure study data reliability, validity and consensus building. Coding schema include both health- and consumer-related advertising appeals, as well as quantitative nutrient profiling that was carefully designed to rate the healthiness of foods advertised. Tips on navigating around the pit falls inherent in conducting large-scale content analyses are offered at the end of the first two papers in this tome.; The final paper in this series addresses the specific findings gleaned from the health-related persuasion appeal data that were collected. These data are explored comparatively between the Hispanic and mainstream media environments. Findings are couched within the larger public health literature on commercial food advertising and implications for future research are discussed. Nutrient analysis findings are published in subsequent publications.