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From August 1999 to August 2000, the American Council on Science and Health monitored twelve popular women's magazines for cigarette advertisements, smoking-related messages in articles and photographs, and the quality and nature of each magazine's health messages.
All of the magazines surveyed accepted cigarette advertisements and published many health-related articles, but the researchers found that less than one per cent of articles about women's health had an anti-smoking theme. For example, although articles addressed breast cancer, they failed to address the number-one cause of cancer death in women - lung disease.
Of the magazines surveyed - Cosmopolitan, Elle, Family Circle, Glamour, Harpers Bazaar, Ladies' Home Journal, Mademoiselle, McCall's, Redbook, Self, Vogue, Virginia, and Women's Day - Self magazine illustrated the greatest commitment to women's health, by featuring the lowest number of tobacco ads and the highest number of anti-smoking messages.
Virginia showed the least commitment to women's health, with no anti-smoking articles - and over half the issues included pictures of models and famous people smoking. | |