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Nutrition in the media: A cross-sectional analysis of health and nutrition articles reported in five popular UK newspapers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

Nafeesa Jamil  and
CEL Evans
Nafeesa Jamil
Affiliation:
Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, LeedsUK
CEL Evans
Affiliation:
Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, LeedsUK
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Abstract

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Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 75 , Issue OCE3: Summer Meeting, 11–14 July 2016, New technology in nutrition research and practice , 2016 , E199
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2016 

Non-communicable diseases (NCDS) are the leading cause of death in the UK accounting for 89 % of total deaths in the UK(Reference Cowan1). Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory disease are known as the major four chronic diseases, which account for the most cases of mortality and morbidity in the UK(2). Therefore promoting public health is a vital role for the Government.News media is the primary source for health related information to the public(Reference Stryker3), providing information through the Internet, smartphones, radio stations and printed newspapers(Reference Cooper4). Despite the decline in circulation of newspapers including ‘tabloids’ and ‘broadsheets’, it remains the most efficient source to provide the public with essential information(5), however nutrition information is not always accurate and fully informative.

This study analyses articles from five of the most popular newspapers in the UK collected over 6 weeks from the 30th of June to the 9th of August 2014. Descriptive analysis was carried out and all articles which reported health and nutrition topics were graded using a validated quality assessment tool(Reference Robinson6). Four tabloids and one broadsheet was used to analyse articles.

143 articles were identified and assessed providing a total of 3·4 articles on average related to health and nutrition being published each day across all 5 papers. Data was checked in duplicate. Table 1 shows a summary of the mean article score for each newspaper. Results showed that The Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph published articles of a higher quality. Articles in The Sun had the lowest scores and therefore published poor quality articles. Articles that provided more scientific background, were written by a named journalist, often with health experience and were larger in length resulted in statistically higher scores.

These results indicate that the quality of nutrition and health articles varies substantially. To improve the quality of articles more training is needed for journalists to ensure that they understand the scientific study and provide sufficient information but is still appropriate.

Table 1. Summary of the descriptive analysis, by newspaper.

SD - Standard Deviation CI – Confidence Interval

References

1.Cowan, M. United Kingdom Country Profile. [Online]. [Accessed 21/08/2015]. Available from: http://www.who.int/chp/countries/en/. 2014.Google Scholar
2.WHO. Non-communicable diseases. [Online]. [Accessed 21/08/2015]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs355/en/.2015.Google Scholar
3.Stryker, J.E. Reporting Medical Information: Effects of Press Releases and Newsworthiness on Medical Journal Articles' Visibility in the News Media. Preventive Medicine.2002:35(5), pp. 519–530.10.1006/pmed.2002.1102Google Scholar
4.Cooper, B.E. et al. The quality of the evidence for dietary advice given in UK national newspapers. Public Understanding of Science. 21(6), pp. 664–673. 2012.10.1177/0963662511401782Google Scholar
5.OECD. The evolution of news and the internet. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2010.Google Scholar
6.Robinson, A. et al. 2013. Analysis of health stories in daily newspapers in the UK. Public Health. 127(1), pp. 39–45.10.1016/j.puhe.2012.10.001Google Scholar
Figure 0

Table 1. Summary of the descriptive analysis, by newspaper.