Conflicting Messages: Overweight and Obesity Advertisements and Articles in Black Magazines

Three-quarters of U.S. Black women are overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk of multiple diseases, poorer quality of life, and a shorter life span. Media provide important normative information regarding overweight and obesity. This study examines Black women's magazines' food and non-alcoholic beverage advertisements and overweight and obesity editorial content to determine whether the products advertised and the articles' content models or inhibits healthy diet and physical activity as strategies to prevent and overcome overweight and obesity. Five hundred food and non-alcoholic beverage ads and 31 related articles printed in a sample of Ebony (n = 60), Essence (n = 60), and Jet (n = 60) magazines during a 20-year period were content analyzed. Overall, results show the vast majority of advertisements in all three magazines consistently advertised foods and non-alcoholic beverages high in empty calories and low in nutritional value. In contrast, a majority of the articles named balanced diet/fewer calories and physical activity as solutions for preventing and overcoming overweight and obesity. Implications for framing public health issues using media advocacy theory are offered.