Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Childhood Obesity: A Community Structure Approach

Authors:

• Rowena Briones (College of New Jersey)
• Danielle Catona (College of New Jersey)
• Brian Keefe (College of New Jersey)
• Christopher Zimbaldi (College of New Jersey)
• John C. Pollock (College of New Jersey)

Abstract:

Using a community structure approach, linking city characteristics and nationwide reporting on childhood obesity, a 2004 -2006 sample of 27 cities yielded approximately 425 articles. Content analysis combined article prominence and direction measures into composite Pollock's Media Vector scores for each newspaper, ranging from +1 to -0.06. Examining the Pearson correlations and regression analysis, two positions in the life cycle were found to be significant. The position in the life cycle, an element of the stakeholder hypothesis, was expected to attribute responsibility to society. The two significant results, families with children under 5 (r=-0.327; p=0.051) and families with children 5 to 7 (r=-0.323; p=0.054), defied the hypotheses and attributed responsibility to family/individuals. The majority of the stakeholder hypotheses strongly attributed responsibility for childhood obesity to family/individuals.