Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the influences of media coverage of nutrition topics published in 2 general-interest women's magazines between 1960 and 1999. A content analysis investigated whether political, demographic, and social trends correlate with changes in reporting of nutrition-related topics. An analysis of all nutrition/health, weight loss, cooking, and food safety articles was completed. The mean percentage of nutrition information increased significantly between 1960 and 1999, and the mean number of recipes per issue decreased by almost half. It is important to be aware that greater societal factors influence reporting of nutrition topics in order to understand why information seems inconsistent.