Journal article
Effects of Family-Centered Media Literacy Training on Family Nutrition Outcomes
Prevention science, Vol.21(3), pp.308-318
04/01/2020
PMID: 32060881
Abstract
Parents frustrated about food marketing influences need media management skills to challenge marketing messages and interpret factual content. We tested a media literacy-based, family-centered intervention to reduce effects of appealing, but unrealistic, food marketing. We hypothesized that participation would facilitate family discussion that improves the home dietary environment and increases youth consumption of fruits and vegetables. Parent-child (age 9–14) dyads (
N
= 189) participated in a matched-group, pretest/posttest field experiment testing a 6-week media literacy-based curriculum. Hypothesis testing employed multiple analysis of covariance and Bayesian multigroup structural equation modeling (MGSEM). Improved nutrition outcomes for parents included
talk with youth about food nutrition labels
(
d
= 0.343) and
ratio of healthy to unhealthy food in home
(
d
= 0.232); youth improved
talk with parent about food nutrition labels
(
d
= 0.211),
vegetables eaten yesterday
(
d
= 0.264), and
fruit eaten yesterday
(
d
= 1.386). Bayesian MGSEM revealed that in the intervention group, 12 of 17 tested paths were significant (
p
< .05), compared with only 4 in the control group, with average effect size magnitudes of 0.236 and 0.113, respectively. Media literacy education can empower parents and improve youths’ critical thinking to reduce negative effects of food marketing on families and improve use of media to obtain nutrition information that aids dietary choices. This approach reduces the risk for reactance from youth who like media and resist limiting media use, while helping families use media together to make better nutrition decisions.
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Details
- Title
- Effects of Family-Centered Media Literacy Training on Family Nutrition Outcomes
- Creators
- Erica Weintraub Austin - Washington State University, Strategic Communication, Department ofBruce W. Austin - Washington State University, Department of Kinesiology and Educational PsychologyC. Kit Kaiser - Washington State University
- Publication Details
- Prevention science, Vol.21(3), pp.308-318
- Academic Unit
- Strategic Communication, Department of
- Publisher
- Springer US
- Grant note
- 227714 / National Institute of Food and Agriculture (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005825)
- Identifiers
- 99901130241101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article