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AJPH NEWS Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL February 25, 2003, 4:00 PM (ET)
CONTACT: For copies of articles, call Natalie Raynor, (202) 777-2511

All articles are online at www.ajph.org

American Journal of Public Health: March 2003 Highlights

• Black T.V. shows feature more overweight actors, junk food commercials
• South Asian immigrant women at particularly high risk for intimate partner violence
• Rap music videos could be contributing to problems for black teenage girls
• Women face barriers when it comes to receiving nutritional aid for themselves and their children

The articles highlighted below appear in the March 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Public Health Association.

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Predominantly black T.V. shows feature more overweight actors, junk food commercials
In a study comparing the top four black television shows with the top four general audience shows that aired in the fall of 1999, researchers found that shows aimed at black audiences featured a greater number of overweight characters and more advertisements for candy and soft drinks. Previous studies have shown that black Americans watch more television than the general population (75 hours weekly compared with 52 hours weekly) and also suffer from a higher prevalence of obesity (29 percent versus 19 percent). The researchers admitted they could not make a direct connection between the food messages aimed at blacks and their higher obesity rates. But television viewing has been linked to obesity, and "viewers mimic behaviors seen onscreen, including the purchase and consumption of foods." The fact that black television shows feature more overweight actors may accurately reflect the population, yet "positive portrayals of overweight characters...could also diminish the recognition of adverse health consequences related to obesity." The researchers urged further research to determine whether and how television viewing might promote obesity, particularly for blacks.
[From: "Food Messages on African American Television Shows." Contact: Anjali Jain, MD, ajain{at}peds.bsd.uchicago.edu.]

South Asian immigrant women at particularly high risk for intimate partner violence
A study of South Asian immigrant women living in Boston showed that 40 percent were victims of intimate partner violence, and more than half of those women were unaware of services available to help them avoid an abusive partner. Previous studies have shown similar statistics when it comes to abuse of South Asian immigrant women. Some of the reasons, researchers hypothesize, include a lack of family support once they reach the United States and language and cultural barriers that keep them from seeking help. In the Boston study, researchers queried 160 South Asian immigrant women about whether they had been abused by a spouse or significant other. Those women who reported lower general social support, no family living in the United States and lower acculturation were significantly more likely to report injury from intimate partner violence. "Further research with larger, representative samples is needed to clarify these relations," the researchers wrote. Even so, they urged for more "culturally tailored" efforts to educate South Asian immigrant women about intimate partner violence and the help that is available.
[From: "Immigrant South Asian Women at Greater Risk for Injury From Intimate Partner Violence." Contact: Anita Raj, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health, anitaraj{at}bu.edu.]

Rap music videos could be contributing to problems for black teenage girls
Black teenage girls who regularly watch rap music videos are significantly more likely than those who don't watch the videos to engage in a range of harmful behaviors, according to a recent study. Researchers interviewed about 500 black girls age 14-18 who lived in non-urban, lower-income neighborhoods. When compared with their peers who didn't watch rap music videos, those who regularly viewed them were three times more likely to have hit a teacher, more than 2.5 times as likely to have been arrested, twice as likely to have had multiple sex partners and more than 1.5 times as likely to have acquired a sexually transmitted disease, used drugs and used alcohol. "Exposure to rap music videos, particularly gansta rap (the most popular type of music video), which is explicit about sex and violence and rarely shows the potential long-term adverse affects of risky behaviors, may influence adolescents by modeling these unhealthy practices," the researchers wrote. "Future research on rap music videos should be conducted among different adolescent populations."
[From: "A Prospective Study of Exposure to Rap Music Videos and African American Female Adolescents' Health." Contact: Gina M. Wingood, ScD, MPH, Rollins School of Public Health,] gwingoo{at}sph.emory.edu.]

Women face barriers when it comes to receiving nutritional aid for themselves and their children
An unexpected fallout of welfare reform has been increased barriers for women to access nutritional aid for themselves and their children, according to a recent study. The Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants and Children provides food vouchers to pregnant, postpartum and breast-feeding women as well as infants and children up to age 5. As more low-income women relying on public assistance have been placed in jobs as part of welfare reform requirements, more of them are struggling to find the time to pick up their WIC checks, according to the study. Researchers interviewed 468 women who either had recently participated in the WIC program or were currently eligible for WIC benefits and received those benefits through one New York distribution center. The most common reasons they failed to pick up WIC checks or withdrew from the program: job conflicts and transportation problems. Researchers suggest implementing electronic distribution systems now in place for many food stamp recipients and providing evening and weekend hours for WIC appointments.
[From: "Why Do WIC Participants Fail to Pick Up Their Checks? An Urban Study in the Wake of Welfare Reform." Contact: Terry J. Rosenberg, PhD, Medical and Health Research Association of New York City Inc., trosenberg{at}mhra.org.]

The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world and the foremost publisher of public health-related books and periodicals promoting high scientific standards, action programs and policy for good health. The Journal is online at www.ajph.org.

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