TV Watching Exposure, Eating and Nutrition Study

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for a career development award. The overall goal of this award is to provide training and skills needed to conduct large-scale mass communication studies examining the impact of visual media on adolescent dietary behavior. A multidisciplinary mentoring by a team of well-established investigators from journalism and mass communication, pediatrics, and biostatics has been assembled to guide this process. The plan includes mentoring, mass communication and biostatistics coursework, skills development, workshops, and a research plan. During the five years I will also present the research findings at scientific meetings, prepare and submit manuscripts, and write a K22 or R01. The research plan outlined, Television Watching Exposure, Eating and Nutrition Study (TWEENS), consists of four integrated aims to better understand the impact of visual media on diet for White, African-American, and Latino "tweens": 1) focus group conduct identify media use patterns, favorite TV channels and shows, popular culture icons, such as movie stars, TV stars, and athletes, 2) cross-sectional media survey to 9-12 year olds in a school-based setting, 3) conduct an advertising content analysis during peak Tween TV times, 4) pilot test a visual media screening tool to evaluate the relationship between exposure to TV food advertising and diet. The research plan 1) incorporates my expertise in nutrition and cancer control and prevention, 2) builds directly on the coursework and workshops described and 3) utilizes mentors' individual and collective expertise and studies they have conducted. This work has the potential to inform a number of research areas including cognitive studies to better understand advertising processing by Tweens and the creation and implementation of appropriate targeted interventions focused on visual media and diet to increase diet quality (increase fruit and vegetable and decrease fat intake) with the goal of decreasing long term cancer risk. This career development award will provide me with protected time to acquire new knowledge and skills in order conduct multidisciplinary research, with the goal of establishing myself as an independent cancer communication investigator specializing in mass media and adolescent dietary behavior.