Health Related Content in Prime-Time Television Programming

This study identified, content analyzed, and described the health-related content (HRC) presented in the top-ranked prime-time network programs for the age 2 to 11 year-old category. The results reveal that viewers see one HRC-containing scene approximately every four minutes. Foods and alcoholic beverages are frequently shown and consumed. Smoking, drug abuse, and promiscuous sex are relatively uncommon. In most scenes, the HRC is not directly related to the main point of the scene. The characters involved in HRC-containing scenes tend to be slender white men. In addition, many of the HRC-containing scenes portray negative health behaviors.