by: Heather Gehlert
posted on Monday, June 11, 2012
Critics of public health measures often use the phrase “nanny state” to evoke fears about the U.S. government exerting too much control over people’s lives. But what’s really behind the words? And what do public health advocates lose when they repeat it?
Tags: Bloomberg, framing, gender, language, nanny state, public health, sexism, soda
by: Andrew Cheyne
posted on Monday, June 04, 2012
Public health advocates have crafted a proposal that would tax cigarettes to help prevent young people from smoking and risking premature death from cancer and other diseases. Unfortunately, Big Tobacco is up to its usual tricks, and its smear campaign may derail the measure.
Tags: california, cancer research, Proposition 29, public health, tobacco control, tobacco industry, tobacco tax
by: Fernando Quintero
posted on Thursday, May 24, 2012
Public health advocates and the news media have long pointed to the need for a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent unnecessary deaths. Now, as we approach the bridge’s 75th anniversary, it still lacks one. What will it take to change that?
Tags: Golden Gate Bridge, public health, suicide barrier, suicide prevention, violence prevention
by: Ingrid Daffner Krasnow
posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A recent Time Magazine article and the firestorm of commentary that followed asked: How long is too long to nurse a child? But if we’re concerned about children and their health, we need to stop pitting mom against mom and start asking different questions.
Tags: breastfeeding, health equity, privilege
by: Heather Gehlert
posted on Monday, May 14, 2012
Obesity is a symptom of a much bigger problem. Yet many of the groups working to improve health equity have placed responsibility for the country’s growing waistlines and related health issues squarely on the shoulders of individuals. And the food industry is reaping the benefits.
Tags: chronic disease, obesity, public health, weight of the nation
by: Pamela Mejia
posted on Friday, May 11, 2012
By flooding a town near South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with beer, the alcohol industry is fueling health inequities among the Oglala Sioux. Columnist Nicholas Kristof offers suggestions for reigning in the booze. Will industry listen? Will media keep the issue alive?
Tags: alcohol, health equity, Oglala Sioux, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Whiteclay
by: Fernando Quintero
posted on Thursday, April 26, 2012
Do you ever find yourself bringing up your opposition’s frame before she or he does? By raising the precise frames we intend to counter, even to refute them, we are creating hurdles we now must jump over. And we may be suggesting these arguments to those who had not yet considered them.
Tags: elephant triggers, framing, george lakoff, language, liana winett
by: Priscilla Gonzalez
posted on Friday, April 20, 2012
Everyone needs easy access to healthy, affordable food. Yet this basic point is getting lost in recent media coverage of new research that questions the existence of food deserts and their potential relationship to obesity.
Tags: built environment, food access, food deserts, food swamps, obesity, public health
by: Pamela Mejia
posted on Monday, April 16, 2012
In its latest article about alcohol abuse and related health issues on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Times highlights the role of industry in perpetuating such abuse. Industry contributions to members of a key legislative committee may have hobbled efforts to limit sales in areas prone to alcohol-related crime.
Tags: alcohol, health equity, Oglala Sioux, Pine Ridge reservation, Whiteclay
by: Pamela Mejia
posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012
News coverage of a study that links the risk of autism to obesity during pregnancy frames the issue primarily as it relates to expecting mothers’ eating and exercise habits. It largely ignores the social, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to obesity.
Tags: autism, children's health, media, obesity, public health, women's health
