Health Blog

WASHINGTON - Television drug advertisements rely heavily on emotional appeals rather than comprehensive disease information to attract consumers’ attention, according to one of the first studies to analyze such commercials.

The study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine Monday, investigated dozens of TV drug ads for some of the nation’s top-selling drugs at those times when most viewers tune in.

Researchers analyzed the ads based on how they portrayed the medication and disease, emotions and lifestyles changes. They found companies used various tactics to appeal to viewers with limited facts that could oversimplify their decisions.

“The benefits of prescription drugs are rarely that black and white,” lead author Dominick Frosch, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles, told Reuters.

“Choosing the wrong prescription drug can cause serious health problems and it can also be very costly to the larger society,” he added.

While such strategies are frequently used for other consumer products, they raise questions when it comes to pharmaceuticals, Frosch and other researchers wrote.

“Our findings suggest the need to reconsider the distinction between selling soap or other consumer products and selling prescription drugs,” they said.

In their review, researchers analyzed 38 commercials that aired over the course of four weeks of prime-time television in mid-2004. They coded ads for common themes such as humor or product information, then rated how often each was used.

While all the ads met regulations, they often made vague claims, the researchers said. About one-quarter offered details on the cause of a disease or who was at risk.

They also found that nearly all ads relied on characters who seemed happy after taking a drug or otherwise showed positive emotions. Some mentioned changing habits in addition to medication, but none offered such change as an alternative.

Print drug ads have been analyzed before, but this study is one of the first aimed at televised versions and comes as Congress prepares to consider allowing drugmakers to pay U.S. regulators to have their commercials screened before airing.

Prescription drug ads have raised concerns since the Food and Drug Administration loosened restrictions on them in 1997.

Since then critics have charged both TV and print ads are misleading and encourage consumers to seek drugs they don’t need. Companies and other supporters have said they can educate consumers about possible treatments.

Industry lobbying group the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released voluntary guidelines in 2005 to address the concerns, but some say they fall short.

PhRMA criticized the study for using ads that aired before its guidelines were implemented. Early indications show “that advertisements airing since the Principles took effect have tended to be more educational and informative,” said the group’s senior vice president, Ken Johnson.

Still, Frosch said the guidelines don’t offer specifics and avoid the issue of emotional appeals. “I don’t think prescription drug advertising needs to be banned, but it does need to be more responsible,” he told Reuters.

This spring Frosch will launch a related study on consumers’ reaction to TV drug ads, with results expected next year.

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We’ve all heard the joke: Whole Foods, whole paycheck. The humor seems exaggerated, until you shop there or at some other natural foods market. Before you know it you’ve spent $70 or more when all you were after was Fair Trade coffee, a fresh baguette and a few excellent cheeses.

Sound familiar? One man recently admitted it costs him $800 a month to purchase his groceries from Whole Foods, and he’s only buying for himself, his girlfriend and an average-sized dog that he feeds like a human. That’s $200 a week—between $28 and $29 a day for a man, a woman and one satisfied pet. Who can afford that?

Well, plenty of people are trying to. According to recent statistics from The Hartman Group, a Bellevue, Wash.-based market research firm, 73 percent of the U.S. population consumes organic food and beverages at least some of the time. What’s more, the Hartman research shows that it’s not just the stereotypical highly-educated, high-income, Caucasian female who buys organic. African Americans, Asian Americans and Latino Americans are a fast-growing segment of organic consumers, according to Blaine Becker, the firm’s director of marketing and communications.

In fact, almost as many households with an annual income of less than $50,000 are buying organic foods, as are households with incomes higher than $50,000. This means that people who earn less are still choosing more expensive organic products.

But that leaves a fundamental problem: How can you eat healthy without going broke?

To find out, MSN Health & Fitness sought help from nutritionist Lynn Smith, a registered dietitian and owner of Source Nutrition services in Boulder, Colo. Our mission: To see if a single person can eat a healthy and predominantly organic foods diet on $7 a day. That’s $50 a week, $200 a month.

When I met Smith at a Whole Foods store, she immediately brought me down to earth with a sobering assessment: “This means you have $2 for breakfast, $2 for lunch, $2 for dinner, and $1 for a snack.” With that reality check, we hit the aisles.

Work the Healthy Combinations

Before pricing produce, Smith outlines several healthy combinations of food that help when on a tight budget.

“The first is balance,” she says. “About a quarter of your plate should be protein, one-third veggies, and a quarter to a third starchy carbs.” For the rest, fill it out with any of the three, along with a smaller amount of healthy fats.

Combining certain foods helps complete a meal, says Smith. One mainstay combination for this Healthy Eating on $7 a Day mission is beans and a grain.

“Beans have protein and good, complex, starchy carbs,” says Smith. “Rice alone is not going to last you as long as it will when paired with beans.”

The next combination is a grain and vegetables, topped off with a plant-based protein like almonds or tofu. The third meal combination is a salad with adequate protein and fat, and some type of carbohydrate.

“In this case you would use nuts or eggs on the salad, and then on the side you would either have whole grain bread, or a cup of bean soup, or hummus.”

Smith’s fifth combination for healthy eating—pairing vegetables with fish or meat—is out, at least on a regular budgetary basis, for the $7-a-day shopper. Most meats and seafood are too expensive. Which brings us back to the produce aisle.

Read Healthy Eating Guide