Consumer Researchers For Public Health: Insights From Three Government-Funded Programs

“Consumer Researchers For Public Health: Insights from Three Government-Funded Programs”

Session Chair: Cristel Antonia Russell

Obesity and the Social Environment: A Tale of Five Cities

Jerome D. Williams, University of Texas,

Chiquita A. Collins, University of Texas,

William J. McCarthy, UCLA, and

Antronette K. Yancey, UCLA

This research examines the relationship between obesity and other health indicators to environmental factors, such as billboard advertising, quick-service restaurants, neighborhood walkability, etc.  In addition, supermarket scanner data are analyzed to assess how these factors relate to purchasing behavior.  Data are collected by zip codes in five cities: Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, Philadelphia, and Austin.  Hypotheses are developed to test whether African American and Latino consumers are disproportionately targeted by advertising of high-energy, low nutrient density food and beverage products, and underexposed to advertising for nutritious food and beverage products and physical activity-related products and services, and to examine the relationships between the environment, purchasing, and community health.

The Impact of Media on Adolescent Sexual Development

Martin Fishbein and Amy Jordan

Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania

This research is funded by the National Institute of Health. There can be little doubt that the amount of sexual content in the media has been steadily increasing. At the same time however, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases have been declining. Despite this apparent negative relationship, there is a great deal of concern that sexual content in the media is increasing the likelihood that young adolescents will engage in sexual behaviors. This presentation describes some of the formative research conducted in preparation for developing a longitudinal survey to assess the impact of six media on the sexual beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviors of adolescents.

Documenting the Nature and Impact of Alcohol Portrayals In TV Programs

Cristel Antonia Russell, San Diego State University,

Dale W. Russell, University of Amsterdam, and

Joel Grube, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Citation:

Session Chair: Cristel Russell and Discussion Leader: (2006) ,"Consumer Researchers For Public Health: Insights From Three Government-Funded Programs", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 33, eds. Connie Pechmann and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 59-62.