Communication of obesity and weight-loss in Czech media from a historical perspective at the turn of the millenia
Abstract
The topic of obesity and weight loss comes to the fore in the mass media every year, especially at the turn of the year and a few weeks before the start of the summer season. Its media coverage has intensified with the advent of online and social media and also as a result of health crises, the last of which we can mention is the global covid-19 pandemic, during which domestic and international health organizations emphasized obesity as a risk factor for the severe course of the disease.
They also communicated the importance of losing weight to reduce the risk of infection and, in general, not only through the mass media, they called for more significant physical activity during nationwide quarantine measures. However, how was the subject discussed in the Czech media at the turn of the 90s, in the era of the advent of consumerism and the boom in commercial messages promoting, among other things, slimming products? This pilot study aims to examine the communication of obesity and weight loss in the period 1998-2002 through content analysis using Newton Media Search media software.
The examined sample always includes the first month of the year, in which the media focuses on weight loss in the context of motivation through resolutions. The preliminary results of the study indicate a relatively low use of scientific resources in the communication of the topic and, with increasing years, also a greater interest of the media in the issue.
The pilot study presented at the conference will be complemented by a brief comparison with the results of Lucie Burdová's (2021) diploma thesis, which examined the thematic coverage of obesity communication in the Czech media in the period of one year between July 2019 and June 2020, and on whose project an expert group from the Institute of Communication Studies and of journalism FSV UK including me. The overall results will then contribute to my dissertation, which analyzes the topic of obesity and weight loss in the context of today's media communication in a primarily online environment.
The pilot study will thus appropriately supplement the final form of the dissertation with a starting point and comparison of how the topic was communicated to the public before. The chosen years 1998-2002 are not accidental, but in my future comparison, I plan to compare 2018-2022, which will cover both communication before and after the covid-19 pandemic.