Welcome to Issue 57.04 of the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. In this issue we are delighted to present papers representing work from countries across four continents, namely Chile, the United Kingdom, Botswana and Malaysia. Once again the selection of papers shows the breadth of international work that is taking place in health education, health promotion and public health.
Smoking-related disease is a major global health problem. The first paper from Chile by Fernández-González discusses cancer-related stigma on tobacco packaging warning messages and presents some very interesting and pertinent arguments that are also highly relevant to other public health campaigns. The authors undertook a discourse analysis of messages used during an anti-tobacco campaign from 2014 to 2016. They note that fear and disgust appeals are strongly used through images and colours; a technique used in many other countries to try to discourage smoking. They also comment on how the campaign conceptualised lung cancer as a self-inflicted disease. The paper raises some ethical and moral concerns about public health campaigns that reinforce stigmatisation which reminds us of the potential to victim-blame rather than considering the social, economic and political environment in which individual behavioural choices and practices occur. The next paper focuses on another global public health issue – physical activity (or lack of). With specific reference to adolescents, Kerner et al. report on a study carried out in the United Kingdom that explored the impact of wearing a Fitbit on body satisfaction, physical activity motivation and objective physical activity. Contrary to what might be expected, using a Fitbit seemed to make the young people in the study less motivated to be active and actually decreased physical activity levels. The author discusses the possible reasons for these findings and suggest areas for further research.
In the paper by Tapera et al. from Botswana, the Health Belief Model is used as a framework for determining the factors associated with breast cancer screening in female students. Again, breast cancer is a global health concern and so is of relevance beyond Botswana and the African region. This study shows that uptake of breast cancer screening is less than the recommended level in the study population. The authors conclude that there is a need for interventions that encourage breast cancer screening uptake, specifically targeting negative beliefs and perceptions that act as barriers to action. The final paper in this issue is from Malaysia. Elnaem et al. report on knowledge of the risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among pharmacy students. As per the previous topics covered in this issue, non-communicable diseases are a global health problem affecting all countries without exception. The authors found a positive correlation between levels of knowledge and level of education. The paper highlights the importance of the role of pharmacists in promoting public health as part of a wider multi-disciplinary team.
We hope you enjoy reading this edition, and we welcome your comments on, and contributions, to the journal. If you would like to become a reviewer for the journal we would love to hear from you. Please do get in touch via email at [email protected],.uk. Join us in championing health promotion and making a difference.