Overview
Unhealthy eating is a major risk factor for obesity and associated chronic, non-communicable diseases, with the Caribbean having the worst rates in the Americas. Approximately 10% of U.S. immigrants originate from the Caribbean, and it is important to address this issue before these populations become U.S. immigrants.
Americanization is fueling unhealthy eating in Jamaica, where there is a trend toward unhealthy Western diets (sugary, salty, fatty foods). Data indicate that adopting a partly American identity in Jamaica is linked to watching more U.S. cable TV daily, which is then linked to eating more unhealthy foods. Because compelling evidence shows that time spent watching TV is a major contributor to unhealthy eating, successful media literacy programs have been designed to teach U.S. youth and families critical evaluation skills about unhealthy food advertising. However, there are currently no healthy eating or media literacy interventions in the Caribbean that account for U.S. media presence, and a need exists for food-focused U.S. media literacy training in Jamaica as a case study for similar settings.
We created the JUS Media? Programme as part of the solution. This stands for J(amaican and) U(nited) S(tates) Media? Programme because families in Jamaica are exposed to media from Jamaica and U.S. media every day. The question mark in the name is important because JUS Media? teaches families to question the food messages in media and advertising, especially coming from U.S. cable TV, in order to be healthier.
The long-term goal of the project was to implement effective family-health prevention programs in developing regions. By combatting risk factors for unhealthy eating in Jamaica, this intervention sought to make a substantial and positive contribution to improving diet and decreasing risk for chronic disease among future U.S. immigrants.
Research Team
- Gail M. Ferguson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Associate Professor at Institute of Child Development
- Michelle R. Nelson, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Christopher Family Foundation grant, Professor, Department of Advertising
- Julie Meeks-Gardner, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, NIH grant, Professor, The University of the West Indies
- Barbara Fiese, Ph.D., Co-Investigator, Family Resiliency Center
- Brenda Koester, MS, Co-Investigator, Center for Social & Behavioral Science
Contact:
Gail M. Ferguson
616-624-0526; gmfergus@umn.edu
View the Culture and Family Life Lab for more information on the JUS Media? Programme.
JUS Media? Programme Educational Materials
Podcast: Family Health in Developing Regions and the JUS Media? Programme
Unhealthy eating is a major risk factor for obesity and associated chronic, non-communicable diseases, with the Caribbean having the worst rates in the Americas. This podcast features Dr. Gail Ferguson, who discusses her research project, the JUS Media? Programme, which focuses on combatting risk factors for unhealthy eating in Jamaica and implementing effective family health prevention programs in developing regions.
Citations
Ferguson, G. M., Fiese, B. H., Nelson, M. R., & Meeks Gardner, J. M. (2019). Transdisciplinary Team Science for Global Health: Case Study of the JUS Media? Programme. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000383.
Ferguson, G. M., Gardner, J. M. M., Nelson, M. R., Giray, C., Sundaram, H., Fiese, B. H., ... & Powell, R. (2021). Food-Focused Media Literacy for Remotely Acculturating Adolescents and Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the “JUS Media? Programme”. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(6), 1013-1023.
Ferguson, G. M., Nelson, M. R., Fiese, B. H., Meeks Gardner, J. M., Koester, B., & JUS Media? Programme Study Team. (2020). US Media Enjoyment without Strong Media Literacy Undermines Adolescents' and Mothers' Reported Efforts to Reduce Unhealthy Eating in Jamaica. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30(4), 928-942.
Nelson, M. R., Powell, R., Ferguson, G. M., & Tian, K. (2020). Using subvertising to build families’ persuasion knowledge in Jamaica. Journal of Advertising, 49(4), 477-494.
Gillespie, S., Eales, L., Simpson, D. D., & Ferguson, G. M. (2022). Remote Acculturation and Physical Activity Among Adolescent-Mother Dyads in Jamaica: A Developmental Dyadic Moderation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 00220221221101172.
Nelson, M. R., Powell, R., Giray, C., & Ferguson, G. M. (2020). Intergenerational food-focused media literacy in Jamaica. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 12(2), 13-27. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2020-12-2-2.
Ferguson, G. M., & Dimitrova, R. (2019). Behavioral and academic adjustment of remotely acculturating adolescents in urban Jamaica. New directions for child and adolescent development, 2019(164), 27-47.
Funding
This project was funded through the Christopher Family Foundation Food and Family Program and the National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center.