Along with the heightened interest of the general public in health in the midst of an increase in life expectancy in Korea, television programs covering health and medical issues are gaining attention. Health and medical television programs have increased in number as well as type of format, due to the advent of comprehensive programming television channels in 2011. Television stations have succeeded in capturing viewers' attention through their addition of entertainment elements to health programs. As a result, health and medical programs on television lack accuracy or are filled with overstatements and distortions of information. Therefore, a system is required to verify that the information on health and medical programs is reliable and accurate rather than concentrated only on entertainment or commercialism.
Korea ; Life Expectancy ; Television*

The purpose of this study was to analyze information about food and nutrition topics presented throughout the television broadcast media, thereby suggest the optimal communication method to give right information to the general public. To perform this study, total sixteen monitoring people were recruited and trained through monitoring practice before and during the study. Five domestic TV channels were selected to be monitored, for six months. For the best efficiency, all the monitoring people were divided into 8 teams based on the regional consideration. The statistical analysis of data was completed using SAS program. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the total reporting cases of information about foods and nutrition were 237 , among which about 30% was classified as appropriate and 70% as inappropriate based on the trained monitors' evaluation. Second, the analysis of contents about incorrect informations showed that the insufficient descriptions of terminology and contents were the highest. And insufficient scientific evidences, incorrect contents excessively entertainment-oriented, no provision of alternatives , improper selection of expert advisors were followed. These results suggest that systematical monitoring should be continued to reduce the frequency of incorrect communication thereby give the right information in food and nutrition area to the general public. And there should be a closely cooperated system to provide the professional information to broadcasting production team by establishing the strategic program. In order to do that, most importantly the advisory team should be organized to professionally connect mass media to corresponding specialists. In addition, more educational programs about food and nutrition should be developed to provide right information to the general public.
Mass Media* ; Specialization ; Television*

The purpose of this study was to analyze information about food and nutrition topics presented throughout the television broadcast media, thereby suggest the optimal communication method to give right information to the general public. To perform this study, total sixteen monitoring people were recruited and trained through monitoring practice before and during the study. Five domestic TV channels were selected to be monitored, for six months. For the best efficiency, all the monitoring people were divided into 8 teams based on the regional consideration. The statistical analysis of data was completed using SAS program. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the total reporting cases of information about foods and nutrition were 237 , among which about 30% was classified as appropriate and 70% as inappropriate based on the trained monitors' evaluation. Second, the analysis of contents about incorrect informations showed that the insufficient descriptions of terminology and contents were the highest. And insufficient scientific evidences, incorrect contents excessively entertainment-oriented, no provision of alternatives , improper selection of expert advisors were followed. These results suggest that systematical monitoring should be continued to reduce the frequency of incorrect communication thereby give the right information in food and nutrition area to the general public. And there should be a closely cooperated system to provide the professional information to broadcasting production team by establishing the strategic program. In order to do that, most importantly the advisory team should be organized to professionally connect mass media to corresponding specialists. In addition, more educational programs about food and nutrition should be developed to provide right information to the general public.
Mass Media* ; Specialization ; Television*

Although the role of mass media as a communicator of health information has continuously expanded, some programs with incorrect health and medical information have negative impacts on television viewers. Public benefit, objectivity of information, and impartiality of effectiveness should be considered from the initial stage of program production in promoting public health. Furthermore, program producers, professional performers, medical associations and government organizations should redefine their roles and cooperation and setting up a mutual-assistance system is needed to produce good programs for health and medical information.
Mass Media ; Public Health ; Television

To investigate the relationship between the watching television and myopia, 301 middle school students of different school grade and sex were given questionnaires of the average television watching period per a day and examined the degree of myopia by the manifest refraction. The results showed that no statistically significant correlation existed between the degree of myopia and the television watching period, however the degree of myopia progresses with advancing school grade. From this results, we concluded that the usual television watching is not related to the degree of myopic refractive changes.
Humans ; Myopia* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Television*

The purpose of this study was to do the quantitative analysis about food and nutrition informations in TV program by monitoring newscastings, health-related food and nutrition information programs, dramas for family, education programs for children, and seniors' information programs in major TV broadcasting companies (KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS). In this study, number of cases about the health-related food and nutrition informations and the length of program were analyzed. Also, they were compared and analyzed by the year. Monitoring staff, who had majored in food and nutrition and completed the monitoring training, monitored programs and analysis the quantity of food and nutrition informations in each program from 2002 to 2003. Results of quantitative analysis for this study are as follows; There were total number of 15,226 cases. Among them, the total number of health-related information was 5,623 cases(36.9%), and the total number of food-related information was 3,848 cases (25.3%). The ratio of total food and nutrition information to total health-related informations was 86.2%. In news programs from 2002 to 2003, the total number of health-related information to total cases decreased to 16.1% from 17.9%. The ratio of total food and nutrition information to total cases decreased to 3.6% from 6.6%. The frequency of the health-related informations was mostly served in the newscastings was highest, in both October 2002, and September 2003. In health information programs from 2002 to 2003, the ratio of food and nutrition information to total cases increased to 57.4% from 32.4%. In dramas from 2002 to 2003 , the ratio of broadcasting time of food-related scenes to total cases decreased to 17.2% from 20.8%. In education programs for children the ratio of food and nutrition information to total cases was 8.2% in 2002. In information programs for seniors the ratio of food and nutrition information was to total cases 26.2% in 2002. As the result of this study, the rate of health-related information in TV program and the rate of food and nutrition information were changing. And the rate of nutrition information in health information programs are increased. To give sound informations to the public, monitoring should be established and managed continuously.
Child ; Drama* ; Education ; Humans ; Television*

The National Health Information Portal (http://health.mw.go.kr), a collaborative project by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, was officially launched in January 2011. In the modern society, the internet and smart phones have been flooded with health information, in addition to the information available through traditional media such as newspapers, television, and radio broadcasting. The Korean Medical Association and the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences have expanded their work in several directions, including a monitoring project to correct wrong health information that is commonly used. Nevertheless, they are confronted with the fundamental problem that they are unable to keep up with the speed of production and diffusion of health information in modern society. This initiative of the National Health Information Portal led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences is significant in that anyone with internet access can easily find proven health information. Unlike existing health information, the National Health Information Portal is structured to help improve understanding by presenting a variety of materials, such as cartoons, pictures, photos, and videos, as compared to simple documents or texts. In addition, it is constructed with a feedback system so that the consumer of the health information can directly and easily access specific content. Furthermore, the National Health Information Portal continues to strive to provide practical contents with mobile services like smart phone applications. We expect the National Health Information Portal to make a contribution to the prevention and treatment of disease by reducing unnecessary medical expenditures, and providing quality health information to society.
Diffusion ; Health Expenditures ; Internet ; Periodicals ; Television

This study was conducted to examine the interrelations among snack preference, purchasing behavior and intake of fifth and sixth grade students in elementary schools in Gyeongnam province. Frequency of snack intake was the highest in those who reported 'once a day' (45.6%) snack habit. Longer-time television viewers also showed higher frequency of snack intake than shorter-time viewers. Thirty-three percent of students purchased snacks by themselves and the frequency of snack purchasing had a significant positive relationship with TV watching time (p < 0.01). The main reason, place and time of eating snacks were 'hunger' (79.2%), their home environment (50.9%) and 'after school hours' (89.7%). The favorite snack was 'ice cream' and, this snack habit was significantly different by gender of the child (p < 0.01) and TV watching time (p < 0.01). 'Milk and dairy products' scored highest (3.47) in snack intake frequency among longer-time TV viewers (> 2hr) compared to shorter-time TV viewers and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The snack preference score was correlated positively (r = 0.454) with the intake frequency for snack and its explanation power (R2) was 20.5%. With regard to snack purchase behaviors, the scores of 'checking the expiration date' and 'comparing the price with similar products' were high (in what group?). Female students (p < 0.001) and shorter-time TV viewers (< 2hr) (p < 0.01) had a more reasonable purchasing behavior. The total score of preference was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in shorter-timeTV viewers (< 2hr). In the correlation between snack purchasing behaviors and intake frequency, attractiveness (r = 0.208, p < 0.001) and preference (r = 0.330, p < 0.001) showed significant positive correlations. The result of regression analysis, preference only was selected (R2= 0.108).
Child ; Eating ; Female ; Humans ; Snacks* ; Television

The present study evaluated alterations in the focal electroretinogram (FERG) in cases of retinal detachment and spontaneous reattachment in 11 ablino rabbits. FERGs were obtained under direct visualization of the fundus by an infrared television fundus camera with a light stimulator. The pre-operative b-wave amplitude al1c. implicit time were 0.52 +/- 0.07 micro V and 59.7 +/- 4.1msec (mean +/- S.D.), respectively. Thirty minutes after making the retinal detachment, the amplitude decreased significantly to 0.08 +/- 0.09 micro V (p Rabbits ; Retina ; Retinal Detachment* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Television

PURPOSE: Although violence occurs frequently in Korean television dramas, its description or definition is unusual. Many studies have shown that TV dramas have a powerful effect on society and the violence shown in medical dramas helps in comprehension of hospital violence occurring in real life. Therefore, this study will cover the types and levels of violence. METHODS: We selected five recent Korean medical dramas. These five dramas, which consisted of 94 episodes and were broadcast from 2007 to 2011, are analyzed. Violence is limited to the occurrence inside the hospital; violence that occurs outside of the hospital is excluded. Media violence is analyzed within PAT (perpetrator-action-target). In addition, the violence levels and violence relationships are analyzed. RESULTS: Among the types of violence, 88.5% is verbal abuse, 3.5% is physical threat, and 8.0% is physical violence. In comparison of the violence relationship, violence between a doctor and a doctor forms the highest rate of 72.6%. In the level of violence, 0 level of violence caused by verbal abuse is the highest (88.5%); however, 5 level of violence level, which is death, is not observed. There are 1475 minutes of violence scenes from 6243 minutes, which is 23.6% of total time. CONCLUSION: Frequency of violence in Korean medical dramas is higher than that of normal dramas. Considering the powerful influence of the mass media, the violence of medical dramas should be controlled. To resolve the problem, the role of advisory doctors seems important.
Comprehension ; Drama ; Korea ; Mass Media ; Television ; Violence