Media Mapping and Analysis of a Contemporary Health Issue - Essay Example

+ Module Module Code Professor Date Submitted TITLE: MEDIA MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF A CONTEMPORARY HEALTH ISSUE Introduction Media reporting of health issues from an epidemiological research can be very influential in shaping how people understand and interpret public health knowledge. A vast array of information from medical findings is relayed through audio, visual and written formats including the internet, thereby increasing the relationship between science, media and public opinion (Seale 2004, 23). Common health issues relating to routine activities that may have minimal or high risks to people create major debates on what measures can be put to tackle such findings. Whilst public understanding on health issues cannot solely be attributed to media reporting, it is widely recognized that media has a high impact on people’s beliefs on health related behaviors. Therefore, timely and accurate translation of scientific information is important to avoid publishing information that will to some extent be misleading compared to actual findings of the research study (Kovacs 2011, 34). It is media’s responsibility to observe ethics and professional behavior in analyzing contemporary issues on health. Mass Media Mass media is an integration of different mass communication channels that will transmit information both electronically and mechanically to the intended user. It will play a central role in linking health workers to the members of public both locally and internationally. Health authorities will educate and entrust the media with essential information that is transformed into readily accessible formats and transferred through a variety of media channels. Mass media is important because it is effective in widening the audience that will be communicated with recent health information (King and Watson 2005, 25). Likewise, communication of scientific information through media will be in simple formats thus easily interpreted. It will seem less official or dictatorial and chances of getting positive feedback from the society are much higher compared to other methods. Media will also be important in relaying preventive measures of a health issue that has or is about to affect the people thereby cutting the costs of reactive measures (Guthrie J 2003, 50). An example is when health authorities communicate through media the importance of vaccination or warn the public of a looming epidemic disease. However, despite continuous participation of health authorities in mass media reporting, information may not be authentic from every angle if it is intended to influence the mind set of people on a particular phenomenon (Howit 1982, 56). This conflict of interest brings about the issue of ethics in mass media when reporting health related information. Mass media is required to follow the code of conduct that is stipulated in their practice relating to transmitting accurate, reliable, competent and complete information to the members of public. Ethics is always an important factor in conducting media reporting since it has legal consequences that are punishable in a court of law (Gwyn 2002, 45). Affected parties can sue for defamation charges or demand damages from the company if any loss has been experienced. Newspaper article reported in the daily telegraph The article by Sarah Knapton published on the Wednesday of 12th March 2014 in The Daily Telegraph (London) newspaper, relates to a study that was conducted and published on 22nd October 2013 to establish the relationship between objectively measured physical activity and academic performance of UK adolescents. It was presented in the news section on the tenth page of the newspaper and the information that Sarah Knapton wrote was not completely similar to that of the research findings (Healey J 2013, 34). The data in the 424 words article was irrelevant with the research study objectives and seems to take a personal view rather than a general view on the subject matter, obesity in adolescent girls. The article was conclusively written and reported in an unethical behavior that is not expected of the writer and the chief editor. In her article she states that the obesity encourages absenteeism, depression and stigmatization and that high body fat cause lower IQ and cognition which are not scientifically proven analyses but rather personal assumptions (Watson and Zibadi 2013, 12). She also associates mental problems with girls more than boys which is untrue since mental sickness is rampant and can affect any gender. In the article she has also made conclusions of how obese people will react to financial motivation in changing their behavior which like other cases was not in the research study and is incorrect in the study’s perspective. Criticism of the Newspaper article The title of the newspaper article talks about obese girls performing poorly compared to healthier students. This is completely different from the title used in the research which involves all gender of adolescents and studies the relationship between physical activity and academic performance among diverse students regardless of their weight status (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). The title is misleading on the health objective of the study which is to establish the effect of continuous exercise on the mind rather than academic performance of obese students compared to their peers who are not. This title causes the public to develop a different notion on obesity and will influence their interpretation of the research findings. The writer of the article, Sarah Knapton states that there is no link between obesity in boys and their academic achievements which is completely wrong from the research findings data. It is evident in the research that the body mass index at obesity had similar mean standard deviation and the variations were noted to be very minimal. At the ages 11, 13 and 16 the mean standard deviation was 15.0, 12.8 and 11.0 for boys and 13.5, 10.0 and 11.9 for girls in their respective ages (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). Therefore, the article’s information is based on non-empirical findings that have not been authenticated by any research. The writer is obviously writing the article on her personal opinion and should not cite the data on obesity from the research. It is also a fact that she has picked sides in delivering of the report which can also be the case for the intended embers of the public who read the article prior to getting access to the original information derived from the study. Citation of the authors and the sources of information have been incorrectly done. She did not focus on her literature review to establish on what exactly was the aim of the study and the analysis that took place. She quotes professor Reilly’s remarks on obesity which are not present in the research program and cites a secondary source journal about obesity rather than the actual case study (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). The study is also done to a voluntary cohort in the UK but she states different information relating to the number of participants in the study. Peer Review of Journal article The research study was conducted by different universities of Dundee, Bristol and Strathclyde to test for cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship between objectively measured physical activity and academic performance in adolescents. The participants who were studied totaled 4,755 with forty five percent being boys and fifty five percent girls. This study not only included children but also their parents and used accelerometers to collect data together with the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children approach (ALSPAC) (Healey J 2013, 34). Data on student’s performance was collected from the nationally administered school assessment Math, English and Science (Kasser and Lytle 2013, 17). The results indicated that in the unadjusted models total physical activity predicted reduced the academic attainment but after controlling for total physical activity and taking into account confounding variables, percentage time spent in moderate vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) predicted increased performance in English for both genders. At sixteen years, percentage of time predicted in (MVPA) increased performance in males as (standardized Beta=0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.00 to 0.22) and in females (Standardized Beta=0.14, 95%confidence interval 0.00 to 0.16). (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65) In female’s percentage of time spent in (MVPA) also increased scores in science at eleven and sixteen years. This study established that moderate vigorous intensity physical activity has a long-term positive effect on the academic performance. Aims The research was to mainly relate physical activity as a major contributing factor in improving academic attainment in adolescents as they grow. It also showed very small variations in data between female and male participants thus indicating that results for both sexes are almost similar. Also, the study would show the independent nature of physical activity that would improve performance regardless of previous academic attainment and volume of activity (Kasser and Lytle 2013, 17). Process The study involved members from ALSPAC which is a continuous population based study investigating a variety of influences on health and development issues among children. Pregnant women were invited in this program and delivered babies between 1991 and 1992 forming a cohort. Physical activity is to be measured and therefore to make it reliable it is to be measured objectively to detect the association. An accelerometer was put on the right hip of the volunteering people and would record data in counts per minute (Healey J 2013, 34). Academic data was from national examinations and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. Other variables included were; weight, gestation period, body mass index, maternal smoking during first three months of pregnancy, ethnicity and social-economic status. Some participants were excluded if they had psychiatric diagnosis, statement of educational needs and those with behavioral difficulties. Strengths and limitations The main strength was the availability of a large sample size that would be adequate to represent the entire society socio-economically. Other strengths indicate that the data for physical activity could be recorded objectively instead of using estimates and the research design would use the longitudinal approach which varies over time. (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65) The limitations were that there was restricted amount of physical activities among the cohort and only small differences were noted among those who appeared for the study compared to when they were introduced 11 years before. Further, the appropriate cut point to signify moderate and vigorous intensity was a limitation since varying cut pints may result in different findings. Findings The evidence from the research case concluded that more time spent in physical activity will not only improve health but also academic achievement. Therefore, parents and teachers should motivate children to participate more in physical activities (Healey J 2013, 34). Critique on journal using CASP tools (Critical Appraisal Skill Program) The journal study addresses a clearly focused issue that would be beneficial to the academic performance of students. Physical activity was identified as a factor that would enhance mental capability of adolescents in the long run thus making the study relevant to social issues in the society. The cohort selected for study was identified 11 years ago and represented the local population effectively (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). However, not all the cohort members participated in the research and it became more homogeneous resulting in high levels of similarity. It is possible that if a larger sample of the total participants was used, it would produce different results compared to the number that was used in the research study. The case should have considered the sample size as a factor that may have altered the final results and implemented measures to increase it such that limitations in data analysis and presentation would be minimized (Healey J 2013, 34). In measurement, the study used objective methods of measuring physical activity by using the accelerometer thus biasness was reduced in analysis (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). Data was accurately collected compared to any other methods of measuring MVPA that entail observation and other judgmental human analysis. Likewise, the outcome of the study had minimal variations in the mean, standard deviation and correlation figures, indicating that data was consistent and the methods used in collection were reliable enough to develop a study hypothesis. Subjects used in the research, who were teenagers, would not be easily followed up on their activities and it is likely for them to give misleading information in order to impress their peers. Therefore, the study focused on statistical data collected over the sixteen years, which was long enough, and used other confounding factors that would affect derived results in the methodology. Follow up on the data recorded by the accelerometer was not done adequately provided that they would remove the equipment from their hips in varying intervals of time. This research on adolescents is set to have great implications to the society because it is relevant to both the current and future expectations of students in different regions. Schools will recommend physical activity as a measure to improve their academic excellence while health professionals will encourage it to reduce the body mass index in case of weight related medical complications (Healey J 2013, 34). I consider the results to be precise due to the fact that the results have a ninety five percent confidence interval and quantitative data has been provided to support this assumption. Conclusion The study that was conducted and published in the journal had been misrepresented completely by media and such information may have different effects on society. It is to be noted however that media is the best channel for scientific information to be conveyed to the public given its diverse nature that enables communication to a majority of the people. It is the responsibility of both health authorities and the media personalities to ensure that accurate information will be transmitted to avoid panic and stigmatization among the public (Seal 2002, 45). Rules have been set by the government in the media laws to ensure that media releases reliable data only failure to which attracts penalties and risk closure of the media house. Mass media promotions on eating disorder, alcohol and tobacco smoking have always been at the center of the debate on how media channels health information (Gordon S 2005, 30). Health authorities will have to formulate policies that will deter mass media in publishing information on science without getting adequate background knowledge on the health issue (Hills and Bryne 2007, 78). Letter to the editor The newspaper article relating to obesity in girls published on 12th March 2014 had information that was not consistent with the original research study that was carried out to determine the impact of physical activities on education. Data used is also irrelevant because the set objective of the study was not represented in the article written by the writer. The misinterpretations of data relate to indicating that obesity affects girls in performance and has no effect on boys. Also the study has no information relating to the percentage of obese students that were examined against their healthy and overweight peers to solely establish their performance and grades in GCSE. Further, the article has omitted almost all information that was supposed to be included if the writer was to appraise the research findings through media (Dishman Gregory and I-Min Lee 2013, 65). The appropriate response by the media on the research should have been on issues to deal with moderate-vigorous intensity physical activities that have a positive impact on the performance of students in any given school. The article should have indicated the cohort that was identified for the research was a representation of the local population and also other confounding factors that were used in the research. The writer focused on obesity alone leaving out several factors that were all part of the study’s final conclusions thereby making it incomplete and unreliable. Data should have been indicated for both male and female participants and made even clearer by sub-diving it into race or ethnicity, maternal factors that would influence their status after birth, age and their parent’s educational levels. Statistics about the study would also be helpful to the public to enable them have a better understanding of what was the actual results and the correlation (Kasser and Lytle 2013, 19). The confidence interval, standard deviation, Beta factor and the percentages used in the results stated by the research are to be noted to minimize bias and stereotyping. The impact of this article would cause stigmatization to obese adolescent girls and demoralize their capacity to relate with others. The topic used is stereotyping healthy students from their obese peers especially girls. It has no moral or ethical values considering that such information is both devastating to the parents and to the obese teenage girls (Kasser and Lytle 2013, 17). The writer clearly failed to realize the social harm such information could cause because victims can become depressed, stresses and seek dangerous alternative measures to reduce their weight. Indicating that incentives of money will help in shaping behavior is similarly misleading about health issues that require an experienced nutritionist to advice. It is my request that ethical codes of conduct be observed in giving out information to the society since in most cases incorrect information is transmitted either for financial and political gain or to control how the community will behave when faced with a social issue. Accurate analysis of research data will not only improve the competence of the health system in a country but also go a long way in building appropriate societal behaviors over time. References CARL, J. D. (2011). Think social problems. Boston, Pearson. Dishman , Rod K Gregory Heath and I-Min Lee 2013. Physical activity epidemiology. Campaign IL: Human Kinetics GORDON, S. (2005). Nursing against the odds: how health care cost cutting, media stereotypes, and medical hubris undermine nurses and patient care. 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