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This study is the first to provide comprehensive information regarding the extent of media use among young children in the United States. These children are growing up in a media-saturated environment with almost universal access to television, and a striking number have a television in their bedroom. Media and technology are here to stay and are virtually guaranteed to play an ever-increasing role in daily life, even among the very young. Additional research on their developmental impact is crucial to public health.

The alarming increase in childhood obesity has captured the attention of a broad set of citizens and institutions, with calls for action becoming increasingly powerful. Particular questions are being raised about the impacts of food marketing on children. The Internet has become an important marketing communications tool and is being used by advertisers to target children. This has prompted calls for a review of online marketing practices from public health officials, policy makers, consumer advocates, and industry groups. The objectives of this study are to inform decision makers about the nature of online marketing to children and to identify practices that may raise policy concerns. The authors report results of the first systematic content analysis of food marketers’ Web sites that either target children directly or contain content of interest to them. The authors identify 11 online marketing practices of public policy relevance. They discuss the empirical findings in terms of these issues and outline research needs.

Previous content analyses of sex on television have relied on differing measures and sampling strategies, which makes it difficult to compare patterns of sexual portrayals over time. This large-scale study (N = 2,817 programs) examines the sexual messages presented on television across both broadcast and cable channels over a 5-year period, applying identical measures to three biennial samples of program content. Results demonstrate that sexual talk and behavior are highly frequent aspects of the television environment. Talk about sex is shown more often than sexual behavior, though both types of content increased significantly from 1997/1998 to 2001/2002. Over that time span, the percentage of shows portraying sexual intercourse doubled from 7 to 14%. Results also show that topics related to sexual risks or responsibilities (e.g., condom use, abstinence) are increasingly included on television, but nonetheless remain infrequent overall. Such safe sex messages occur most frequently in program environments where they are most relevant (i.e., when sexual intercourse is included in the story). The content analysis findings are discussed in terms of their implications for audience effects.