A study conducted by the University of South Carolina shows an ER storyline involving teen obesity, hypertension and healthy eating positively affected viewers' attitudes and behaviors.

The storyline, which aired over three episodes from April 29 to May 13, 2004, featured an African-American teen who finds out he has hypertension during a visit to the emergency room.  He is told to include more fruits and vegetables in his diet and to exercise more.

Three separate datasets were used to evaluate the ER episodes.  One of the sets gave data on a sample of 807 primetime viewers before and after the episodes were shown.  An independent firm surveyed viewers to measure how their nutrition attitudes, knowledge and practices were affected by the storyline.

The results revealed that ER viewers were 65 percent more likely to say their behavior changed positively after catching the episodes.  The results also showed the storyline had modestly impacted viewers' knowledge, attitudes and practices.  Additionally, ER viewers proved to be more knowledgeable about nutrition than those who did not watch the episodes.  Variables considered in the study include age, sex, ethnicity, income and education.

It is interesting to note that the storyline's effects were stronger for men than women, and researchers think it may be because the men began with a lower baseline knowledge of the information disseminated by the episodes.

According to Thomas W. Valente, associate professor of preventive medicine and member of the Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Research at USC's Keck School of Medicine, the study provided researchers with the chance to assess the impact of health messages in entertainment.  Furthermore, Valente says the study underlines the potential of using television as a medium for health communication.

“People get their information from entertainment,” Valente says.  “It's not a magic bullet. It's a small piece of the puzzle, but we'd be silly to ignore its potential.”

The study was published in the September 14 issue of Journal of Health Communication and is now available online.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: University of Southern California
(Image Courtesy of ER Headquarters)