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The bigger picture – Keeping an eye on media influences
S28
Poster Abstracts
allocation to cell maintenance and repair, including the brain. An essential part of cell maintenance is protection from oxidative stress, which is partly dependent on adequate supplies of dietary antioxidant vitamins and micronutrients. Organisms on limited energy intakes also minimise oxidative stress by recycling damaged cellular organelles (autophagy), minimising telomere shortening and apoptosis, thus prolonging lifespan. However, with industrialised food production, plentiful energydense and micronutrient-reduced food has become available for large sectors of the population. Obesity and cardiovascular co-morbidities are conditions of oxidative stress, telomere shortening, degenerative change and decreased longevity. Energy use patterns have not been modelled using detailed dynamic energy budget (DEB) models in humans. Energy budgets detail the energy acquisition from the environment by an organism and the use of this energy for life sustenance: growth, development, tissue maintenance and reproduction. Static energy budgets specify a cross-sectional view of energy fluxes for an organism in a given state, whilst dynamic energy budgets follow the changes of these fluxes during the life cycle of an individual. As organisms typically grow during their life cycle, nutrient acquisition and tissue maintenance are linked to the size of the organism. The final size of organisms, when growth has ceased, is directed by the balance between energy uptake and expenditure via the processes of maintenance and reproduction.1 In an attempt to gain insight into human obesity, we intend to build on DEB methodology by developing systems models incorporating energy balances dictated by physiological principles and to model energy fluxes for three cases — (i) a frugivorous non-encephalised and short-lived primate, (ii) a hunter-gatherer and (iii) a modern human.
Two key elements of the media are the news and reality television shows, especially those focusing on weight such as The Biggest Loser, The Biggest Loser Couples and Honey We are Killing the Kids. Research investigating the role of these popular media products is growing but still rare in Australia and urgently required. Meanwhile, potentially stigmatising images of overweight and obese people have become a cliché of television news. Charlie Brooker’s YouTube video ‘How To Report The News’ sets out to portray a generic television news item, asserting that including ‘‘shots of overweight people with their faces subtly framed out’’ is ‘‘obligatory’’ see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4. Despite this widespread recognition that news routinely broadcasts images of obese people without their faces, there is no systematic analysis of whether these images are really the norm, whether they are dominated by people who are morbidly obese (as opposed to the more common conditions of overweight or mildly obese) or whether the news is ‘othering’ people with a weight problem more than reality TV shows. This paper will report preliminary findings from research examining Australian media representations of people with a weight problem in television news and in obesity-related reality TV. This research is situated within social construction of reality theories, draws on concepts of othering and stigmatisation and employs content analysis and semiotic analysis to analyse contemporary Australian news and reality television shows.
1 Definition
doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2010.09.055
Philip J. Morgan 1 , David R. Lubans 1 , Robin Callister 2 , Richard Fletcher 3 , Tracy L. Burrows 4 , Clare E. Collins 4 , Ron Plotnikoff 1 , Victoria Clay 1 , Myles Young 1
P57
1 School
adapted from Kooijman S.A.L.M, pers
com.
The bigger picture — Keeping an eye on media influences Catriona Bonfiglioli University of Technology, Sydney, Australia A growing body of scholars recognise the media make a key contribution to obesogenic environments and to individuals’ understandings of weight, nutrition and physical activity.
doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2010.09.056 P58 The ‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ community program: Promoting family health through sustainable school and community partnerships
of Education, Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Newcastle 2 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle 3 Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle 4 School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle The Healthy Dads Healthy Kids project targets overweight fathers, an often overlooked group in weight-management and nutritional education interventions. The overall aim of HDHK
Poster Abstracts
allocation to cell maintenance and repair, including the brain. An essential part of cell maintenance is protection from oxidative stress, which is partly dependent on adequate supplies of dietary antioxidant vitamins and micronutrients. Organisms on limited energy intakes also minimise oxidative stress by recycling damaged cellular organelles (autophagy), minimising telomere shortening and apoptosis, thus prolonging lifespan. However, with industrialised food production, plentiful energydense and micronutrient-reduced food has become available for large sectors of the population. Obesity and cardiovascular co-morbidities are conditions of oxidative stress, telomere shortening, degenerative change and decreased longevity. Energy use patterns have not been modelled using detailed dynamic energy budget (DEB) models in humans. Energy budgets detail the energy acquisition from the environment by an organism and the use of this energy for life sustenance: growth, development, tissue maintenance and reproduction. Static energy budgets specify a cross-sectional view of energy fluxes for an organism in a given state, whilst dynamic energy budgets follow the changes of these fluxes during the life cycle of an individual. As organisms typically grow during their life cycle, nutrient acquisition and tissue maintenance are linked to the size of the organism. The final size of organisms, when growth has ceased, is directed by the balance between energy uptake and expenditure via the processes of maintenance and reproduction.1 In an attempt to gain insight into human obesity, we intend to build on DEB methodology by developing systems models incorporating energy balances dictated by physiological principles and to model energy fluxes for three cases — (i) a frugivorous non-encephalised and short-lived primate, (ii) a hunter-gatherer and (iii) a modern human.
Two key elements of the media are the news and reality television shows, especially those focusing on weight such as The Biggest Loser, The Biggest Loser Couples and Honey We are Killing the Kids. Research investigating the role of these popular media products is growing but still rare in Australia and urgently required. Meanwhile, potentially stigmatising images of overweight and obese people have become a cliché of television news. Charlie Brooker’s YouTube video ‘How To Report The News’ sets out to portray a generic television news item, asserting that including ‘‘shots of overweight people with their faces subtly framed out’’ is ‘‘obligatory’’ see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4. Despite this widespread recognition that news routinely broadcasts images of obese people without their faces, there is no systematic analysis of whether these images are really the norm, whether they are dominated by people who are morbidly obese (as opposed to the more common conditions of overweight or mildly obese) or whether the news is ‘othering’ people with a weight problem more than reality TV shows. This paper will report preliminary findings from research examining Australian media representations of people with a weight problem in television news and in obesity-related reality TV. This research is situated within social construction of reality theories, draws on concepts of othering and stigmatisation and employs content analysis and semiotic analysis to analyse contemporary Australian news and reality television shows.
1 Definition
doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2010.09.055
Philip J. Morgan 1 , David R. Lubans 1 , Robin Callister 2 , Richard Fletcher 3 , Tracy L. Burrows 4 , Clare E. Collins 4 , Ron Plotnikoff 1 , Victoria Clay 1 , Myles Young 1
P57
1 School
adapted from Kooijman S.A.L.M, pers
com.
The bigger picture — Keeping an eye on media influences Catriona Bonfiglioli University of Technology, Sydney, Australia A growing body of scholars recognise the media make a key contribution to obesogenic environments and to individuals’ understandings of weight, nutrition and physical activity.
doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2010.09.056 P58 The ‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ community program: Promoting family health through sustainable school and community partnerships
of Education, Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Newcastle 2 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle 3 Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle 4 School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle The Healthy Dads Healthy Kids project targets overweight fathers, an often overlooked group in weight-management and nutritional education interventions. The overall aim of HDHK