[Advertising and health education].
Health education and advertising have a common aim: to modify human behaviour. Health education tries to induce healthy behaviours. In some occasions Publicity proposes risky behaviours. Ads appearing during a two-month period in magazines of the largest circulation in Spain are analyzed here. A total of 1,726 ads which could have a negative influence on health either because of the product or service offered or for the use of health as a persuasive argument in their text, are considered. The magazines Hola and Lecturas had the highest ratio ads/magazine. Spirits, food and drugs were the most frequently advertised products. And more than 50% of the ads used health and welfare as argument for better selling. Health educators should know and teach the critical analysis of publicity, and use advertisements as a teaching tool to enable people to see through misleading advertising.
López González
M L
ML
Area de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Departamento de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo.
Cueto Espinar
A
A
Martínez Cuervo
F
F
Redondo Cornejo
M L
ML
Suárez González
J R
JR
Secall Mellén
L
L
D000329:Advertising / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013030:Spain
Publicidad y educación sanitaria.