Evaluating the focus of statewide print media coverage of Arkansas obesity legislation

Childhood obesity rates have increased in the US. This trend has compelled policymakers to examine initiatives to curb this trend. In 2003, Arkansas moved to the forefront of these efforts with the passage of Act 1220, a comprehensive law targeted at reducing childhood obesity. An on-going evaluation of Act 1220 includes methods to monitor print media in order to assess the climate within which the Act is being implemented. Over the past four years, the evaluation team has enlisted the assistance of a newspaper clipping service to search print media statewide, reviewing articles, letters to the editor, and editorials for the presence of keywords related to Act 1220 (i.e., Act 1220, childhood obesity, vending machines, physical activity, etc.) A total of 1,333 clippings have been found to contain such references. Although the Act consists of a number of components, each arguably of importance, the local and state media have shown a significant bias toward coverage of only a few. Not unexpectedly, the most consistently covered is the measurement of body mass index (BMI), which was among the most controversial of the Act's components. In 2004, the first year of this evaluation, BMI was mentioned in 74% of the 403 articles analyzed; the next most frequent references were obesity (58%), overweight in children (46%) and physical activity (20%). Following years reveal similar findings. These results suggest that it may be advantageous for public health professionals to play larger roles in disseminating balanced information concerning similar policies that incorporate BMI measurement.