title: Got yoga?: A longitudinal analysis of thematic content and models' appearance-related attributes in advertisements spanning four decades of Yoga Journal.
abstract: Yoga has become an increasingly common health practice among U.S. adults over the past decade. With this growth in popularity, yoga-related print media have been criticized for shifting away from yoga's traditional philosophies and promoting a thin, lean ideal physique representing the "yoga body." The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze the presence and content of advertisements over the 40-year publication history of Yoga Journal magazine and (b) explore female advertisement models' socio-demographic and appearance-related attributes over time. Results suggested that Yoga Journal now contains significantly more advertisements for food, nutritional supplements, and apparel and fewer advertisements for meditation and nutritional practices than in its early years of publication. Models were more frequently rated as White and in their 20s and 30s in recent years of publication. Trends in model body size matched shifts in culturally dominant body ideals over time. Implications and future research directions are considered.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health and Human Services 335, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. Electronic address: evinoski@uncc.edu.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vinoski
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Psychological Science, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Health Psychology Ph.D. Program, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health and Human Services 335, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Warren-Findlow
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Psychological Science, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.
authors.forename: Kirstyn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Psychological Science, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.
authors.forename: Katheryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kiffmeyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D000067029:Physical Appearance, Body; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Advertisements; Body image; Content analysis; Media; Physical appearance; Yoga