Northwestern Events Calendar

Apr
3
2017

Van Zelst Lecuture: Amy Jordan on Mass Media & Childhood Obesity

When: Monday, April 3, 2017
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM CT

Where: Norris University Center, Northwestern Room, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208 map it

Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students

Contact: Tricia David   (847) 491-5312

Group: School of Communication

Category: Academic

Description:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Children who are overweight suffer stigmatization and poor self-esteem, and they experience significant health problems, including high blood pressure and joint pain. As a society, we are worried. Polls of U.S. adults show that childhood obesity ranks as a top health concern; funding agencies have devoted almost $1 billion dollars to fund childhood obesity research, and former First Lady Michelle Obama made raising awareness of childhood obesity her signature issue. The good news: after increasing steadily for decades, the national childhood obesity rate has leveled off. But progress in reducing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in obesity rates has been disappointingly slow.

In this talk, Jordan explores the role of mass media in contributing to America’s obesity epidemic. She examines the sedentary nature of childhood today, the ways in which food advertising has influenced children’s diets, and the disproportionally negative impact of media and marketing on the nation’s most vulnerable families. And yet media have been used to encourage health behavior changes in ways that are meaningful and successful. To this end, Jordan discusses her collaboration with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health on a multi-media campaign to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption as element of a comprehensive strategy for reducing childhood obesity in the city. She emphasizes thechallenge of crafting culturally sensitive messages, the necessity of of evaluating their effectiveness, and the opportunities health-related media communication offer for a nation concerned about children’s health and well-being.

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