Coverage of childhood nutrition policies in California newspapers.

children and teens is on the rise. Approximately one in five children are considered overweight, with the I ^ number of overweight children doubling in the past (t q two decades (i). This leads to a generation at risk ~._v~ . for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other serious health problems. Recent reports document an alarming rise in type z diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in overweight youth (i). Policies related to public health issues such as childhood nutrition are often influenced by news coverage of these issues. The purpose of this content analysis research is to give public health professionals an understanding of how the issue is portrayed in the news and thus, by extension, presented to policy makers and the public. News coverage has a strong impact on what issues the public and policy makers consider important and how they interpret and respond to those issues (2).