Heavy Viewing: Emergent Frames in Contemporary News Coverage of Obesity

Abstract

In the last 10 years, rising rates of obesity in the United States have drawn significant and increasing public attention from various quarters, which has led to commensurately increased news coverage of the issue. A handful of scholars to date have examined how obesity has been “framed” in the news, given that news framing of issues has proven effects on cultural and political attitudes, practices, and policies as regards the subject of coverage. Consistent with these studies, this qualitative framing analysis assesses how obesity is framed in more recent mainstream news coverage. Framing patterns identified in this analysis represent a notable departure from those identified in earlier studies, specifically as relevant to troubling the individual/environmental attribution binary that historically has characterized public discourse around obesity, in particular, and health more broadly. These findings signal important shifts for contemporary cultural attitudes toward obesity and, accordingly, public health policies designed to redress the issue. Further, the findings suggest a reconsideration and elaboration of established tenets of framing theory.