Messages about calcium and weight in Canadian women's magazines.
OBJECTIVE
Osteoporosis affects 1.4 million Canadians. Maximizing bone mass by age 30 may reduce this risk. Because calcium intake and body weight are both associated with bone mass, and many Canadian women report that they obtain nutrition information from magazines, we compared the frequency of calcium and body weight messages in Chatelaine and Flare, Canadian magazines for mature versus younger women, respectively.


METHODS
Using keywords, we identified relevant advertisements and articles in all issues of Chatelaine and Flare for 2000 to 2001. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank sum tests.


RESULTS
Chatelaine had more calcium and weight messages per 100 pages than did Flare (significant only for calcium, p <or= 0.0001). Within Chatelaine, there were no significant differences between the frequency of calcium and weight messages; however, almost 90% of Flare's messages focused on weight (p <or= 0.0001), with only eight messages in two years addressing calcium.


CONCLUSIONS
Magazines with limited calcium and many weight messages inadvertently promote a lifestyle that may increase the risk for osteoporosis. The opportunity exists to provide improved calcium and osteoporosis coverage for women at the prime age for maximizing bone density. Awareness of information gaps may help dietitians strategize in promoting nutrition messages to women.
Hassan
Talia
T
Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Marchessault
Gail
G
Campbell
Marian
M
Huhmann
Bruce
B
D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000517:prevention & control*
D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D002136:Calcium, Dietary