School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
School of Humanities and Social Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, China.
Int J Eat Disord. 2020 Jan;53(1):113-122. doi: 10.1002/eat.23154. Epub 2019 Aug 20.
Eating disorders (EDs) are becoming more prevalent in China; however, no studies have been conducted to explore how Chinese media represented EDs, and how media representation of ED impacted public understanding of EDs. The aim of this study was to analyze articles about EDs in Chinese newspapers, and to identify any potential inaccuracies about EDs as represented in the media.
Content analysis was employed to analyze a total number of 292 news articles over the span of two decades (1998-2019). Intercoder reliability was satisfactory for all the coded categories. The analysis was conducted on two different dimensions: for individual news article and for individual patient profile.
The bulk of news reporting on EDs was about anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A majority of individual patient profiles focused on young women. Anorexia nervosa was mentioned and discussed more frequently than bulimia nervosa. Chinese newspapers generally presented correct information concerning anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, but conveyed shallow information about the etiology and treatment. There were also misconceptions of EDs as reported in Chinese media.
EDs have not received sufficient attention in Chinese media, as shown by the media coverage on EDs over the last two decades. Considering the increasing prevalence of EDs in China with its large population base, effective communication strategies are needed to call public attention to this health issue, and to galvanize the medical community and the society to devote more resources to improve the prevention and treatment of EDs in China.
饮食失调（EDs）在中国越来越普遍；然而，尚未有研究探讨中国媒体如何描述 EDs，以及媒体对 EDs 的描述如何影响公众对 EDs 的理解。本研究旨在分析中国报纸上有关 EDs 的文章，并确定媒体对 EDs 的描述中可能存在的任何不准确之处。
采用内容分析法分析了跨越二十年（1998-2019 年）的 292 篇新闻文章。所有编码类别的编码者间信度均令人满意。分析从两个不同维度进行：针对单个新闻文章和针对单个患者档案。
EDs 新闻报道的大部分是关于神经性厌食症和神经性贪食症。大多数患者档案都集中在年轻女性身上。神经性厌食症比神经性贪食症更频繁地被提及和讨论。中国报纸通常对神经性厌食症和神经性贪食症的信息描述正确，但对病因和治疗的信息描述浅显。中国媒体也对 EDs 存在误解。
过去二十年的 EDs 媒体报道表明，EDs 在中文媒体中并没有得到足够的关注。鉴于 EDs 在拥有庞大人口基数的中国的患病率不断上升，需要有效的沟通策略来引起公众对这一健康问题的关注，并动员医疗界和社会投入更多资源，以改善中国 EDs 的预防和治疗。
