Studies on the Health Articles in Newspapers From the Point of View of Health Education

The purpose of this study was to clarify the degree of information published by newspapers concerned with health education. Two major newspapers were observed for the years 1972 and 1976, and the contents of editorials, personal columns, letters to the editor and obituary notices were analyzed. The results were as follows: 1) Similar tendencies were noted for editorials, personal columns and letters to the editor, in that the ratio of the number of health articles to the total number of articles was significantly lower in 1976 than in 1972. Articles about environmental pollution, and occupational health and safety decreased between 1972 and 1976. 2) Articles dealing with health problems were most often concerned with the citizens' campaign for the health problem. On the other hand, proposals and requests about health problems were frequently aimed at governmental or at public organizations. 3) Persons reported about in obituary notices were generally male, forty years of age and over, and the directors of companies or corporations. Their causes of death were different when compared with the general population adjusted for sex and age.