Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on January 23, 2008
Health Education Research 2009 24(1):49-53; doi:10.1093/her/cym088
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Home and child safety on reality television
1 Department of Health Policy, Management & Behavior, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA
2 College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Department of Pediatrics, Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Injury Research and Policy, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
* Correspondence to: J. A. Manganello. E-mail: jmanganello{at}albany.edu
Injuries, many of which occur at home, are the leading cause of death for children. With such an extensive problem, it is natural to look for outlets such as mass media to reach large numbers of families with educational messages about safety and injury prevention. Mass media has been widely used to educate people about health issues. While studies have examined the portrayal of topics such as substance use and sexual behavior, no study has looked at media content about home and child safety practices. A pilot study with a sample of 10 television shows about home renovation, children or families was examined using content analysis for the presence or absence of home and child safety practices and products and discussion of injury topics. Most practices, like checking the water temperature when bathing a child or having smoke alarms, were never discussed or shown. Results suggest these shows provide information about home or family life, but few role models are shown offering information or examples of safe practices. Promoting safety information in these television programs may be a potentially important way to educate a large number of people, and feasibility of adding safety information to such shows should be explored.
Received on September 11, 2006; accepted on November 20, 2007