[When health "sells": presence and characteristics of health-related advertising in the Italian press].

The authors evaluated the amount of health-related advertising that appeared in major Italian newspapers and magazines during the months of July 2009 and November 2009. Advertisements related to health (as defined by the World Health Organization) were found to be widely present in the Italian press. Health promotion messages given by health institutions must therefore compete with the above advertisements that deal with health issues usually for purely commercial purposes.