Objective: To examine whether television news and current affairs coverage of overweight and obesity frames obesity in ways that support or oppose efforts to combat obesity. Design and setting: A content and framing analysis of a structured sample of 50 television news and current affairs items about overweight and obesity broadcast by five free‐to‐air television channels in New South Wales between 2 May and 31 October 2005. Main outcome measures: Dominant discourses about causes of overweight and obesity; proposed solutions and location of responsibility for the problem; the age‐group focus of television items; the relative prominence of stakeholders; and the aspects of obesity which attract news attention. Results: Most television items (72%) framed obesity as a problem of poor nutrition. Obesity was largely seen as the responsibility of individuals (66% of items). Just over half of news items (52%) focused only on adults while 26% focused only on children. Obesity was framed largely as a problem to be solved by individual nutritional changes, exercise and surgical and medical interventions. Conclusions: While individual lifestyle is crucial to controlling weight, the research community now recognises the importance of sociocultural and environmental factors as drivers of the obesity epidemic. However, television news portrays obesity largely as an individual problem with individual solutions centred mostly on nutrition. Media emphasis on personal responsibility and diet may detract attention from the sociopolitical and structural changes needed to tackle overweight and obesity at a population level.

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BackgroundCycling is important for health, transport, environmental and economic reasons. Newspaper reporting of cycling reflects and can influence public and policy maker attitudes towards resource allocation for cycling and cycling infrastructure, yet such coverage has not been systematically examined.MethodsThe Factiva electronic news archive was searched for articles referring to cycling published in four major metropolitan newspapers - two in Sydney and two in Melbourne, Australia, in the years from 1998 until 2008. After excluding articles not about cycling, there were 61 articles published in 1998, 45 in 1999, 51 in 2003, 82 in 2007 and 87 in 2008. Each article was coded for positive or negative orientation, and for framing of cyclists and cycling. Inter-rater reliability was calculated on a sample of 30 articles.ResultsOver the past decade there has been an increase in the reporting of cycling in the major newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne (from 106 in 1998/99 to 169 stories in 2007/08), with a significant increase in reporting of cycling in Melbourne, from 49 to 103 stories (p = 0.04). Recent reporting of cycling was generally positive (47% of articles, compared with 30% of articles which were negative) and focused on benefits such as health and the environment. Three quarters of negative stories involved injury or death of a cyclist. The Sydney based The Daily Telegraph reported the most negative stories (n = 60). We found positive framing of 'cycling' was more widespread than negative, whereas framing of 'cyclists' was more negative than positive.ConclusionsQuantity of reporting of cycling varies over time and by newspaper, and even between newspapers in different cities owned by the same media company. News coverage appears to reflect developments in the different cities, with increases in positive reporting of cycling in Melbourne following increases in cycling in that city. Negative cycling newspaper stories may deter people from considering cycling as a transport option, but real physical or political improvements to the cycling environment may be necessary before coverage becomes more positive.

Objective: This study aimed to analyse the contribution of Australian print news coverage to the public profile of sweet, non‐alcoholic beverages. News media portrayal of health contributes to individuals’ decision‐making. The focus on sugar‐sweetened beverages reflects their contribution to excessive energy intake. Methods: One year's coverage of sweet, non‐alcoholic beverages by major Australian newspapers was analysed using content and frame analysis. Research questions addressed which sweet drinks are most prominently covered, what makes sweet drinks newsworthy and how are the health aspects of sweet drinks framed? Results: Fruit juice was the most widely covered sweet drink, closely followed by carbonated, sugar‐sweetened soft drinks. Overall coverage was positively oriented towards sweet drinks, with fruit juice primarily portrayed as having health benefits. Some coverage mentioned risks of sweet drinks, such as obesity, tooth decay, metabolic syndrome and heart attack. Conclusions: Sweet drinks often enjoy positive coverage, with their health benefits and harms central to their ability to attract journalists’ attention. However, the mix of coverage may be contributing to consumer confusion about whether it is safe and/or healthy to consume sweet non‐alcoholic drinks. Implications: Framing of sweet drinks as healthy may undermine efforts to encourage individuals to avoid excess consumption of energy‐dense drinks which offer few or minimal health benefits.

Issue addressed This study examines how sedentary behaviour (too much sitting) was covered as a health issue by Australian newspapers and how physical activity was framed within this newspaper coverage. Methods Articles featuring sedentary behaviour published in Australian newspapers between 2000 and 2012 were analysed for content and framing. Main outcome measures were volume, number and content of newspaper articles; framing and types of sedentary behaviour; responsibility for the problem of and solutions to high levels of sedentary behaviour; and physical activity mentions and how it was framed within sedentary behaviour coverage. Results Out of 48 articles, prolonged sitting was framed as bad for health (52%) and specifically as health compromising for office workers (25%). Adults who sat a lot were framed as 'easy targets' for ill health (21% of headlines led with 'sitting ducks' or 'sitting targets'). Prolonged sitting was framed as an issue of individual responsibility (>90%) with less mention of environmental and sociocultural contributors. Thirty-six of 48 articles mentioned physical activity; 39% stated that being physically active does not matter if a person sits for prolonged periods of time or that the benefits of physical activity are undone by too much sitting. Conclusions News coverage should reflect the full socio-ecological model of sedentary behaviour and continually reinforce the independent and well-established benefits of health-enhancing physical activity alongside the need to limit prolonged sitting. So what? It is important that the entire 'move more, sit less, every day!' message is communicated by news media.