Health claims for food products advertised on Korean television and their regulation: a content analysis.

This article reviews the landmark studies of advertising claims and analyzes the health claims for food products advertised on Korean TV. The present study examined 1,479 food commercials aired on three major television networks from 2005 to 2007. The commercials containing health claims accounted for 29.5% of the total. The health claims ranged from the nutrient content to the use of ambiguous expressions such as "healthy." Among the 5 types of health claims considered, specific nutrient claims ranked first (11.1%), followed by general health claims (9.4%). The regulatory policies of Korea concerning such advertising claims were compared with those of the United States. The results of this study are expected to have important implications for Korean policymakers who need better ways to regulate health claims for food products.

[Changes in smokers' perception about smoking before and after participation in a hospitalized smoking cessation program].

PURPOSE: This study was done to analyze the changes in smokers' subjectivity about smoking before and after participation in a 5-day hospitalized smoking cessation program. DESIGN: Q-methodology, which provides a scientific method on subjectivity, was applied. FINDINGS: Nine types of subjectivity changes about smoking were identified; Type I, Nicotine craving --> Confident of self control for smoking; Type II, Nicotine craving --> Cognition of the link between habituation and smoking, Type III, Nicotine craving --> Nicotine craving, Type IV, smoking as a social behavior --> Cognition of the link between habituation and smoking, Type V, smoking as a social behavior --> Motive to turn away from being addicted to smoking to being healthy, Type VI, Habitual smoking --> Confident of self control for smoking, Type VII, Habitual smoking --> Cognition of the link between habituation and smoking, Type VIII, Habitual smoking --> Motive to turn away from being addicted to smoking to being healthy and Type IX, Denial of the negative effects of smoking --> Confident of self control for smoking. CONCLUSION: The types of changes in smokers' subjectivity before and after the smoking cessation program in this study suggest a better tailored intervention for individual smokers. The types of changes on smokers' subjectivity provide insight about which factors of the interventions for smoking cessation are especially valued for a particular group of smokers.

A Q-methodological study on nursing students' attitudes toward nursing ethics.

PURPOSE: Professional nursing ethics is a living, dynamic set of standards for nurses'professional moral behavior. Furthermore, in daily clinical nursing training, nursing students are constantly confronted with decision-making that is moral in nature. The aim of this study was to identify the perceived ethical attitudes in the clinical training process of senior nursing students using Q-methodology to offer basic strategies for nursing ethics education and thereby improve patients'care. METHODS: Q-methodology provides a scientific method for identifying perception structures that exist within certain individuals or groups. Thirty-seven participants in a university rated 38 selected Q-statements on a scale of 1-9. The collected data were analyzed using pc-QUNAL software. RESULTS: Principal component analysis identified 3 types of ethical attitudes in nursing students in Korea. The categories were labeled Sacred-life, Science-realistic and Humane-life. Sacred-life individuals think that a life belongs to an absolute power (God), not a man, and a human life is a high and noble thing. Science-realistic individuals disagreed that allowing an induced abortion or embryo (human) duplication is unethical behavior that provokes a trend, which takes the value of a life lightly; most of them took a utilitarian position with respect to ethical decisions. Humane-life individuals exhibit a tendency toward human-centered thought with respect to ethical attitudes. CONCLUSION: This study will be of interest to educators of students of nursing and hospital nursing administrators. Also, the findings may provide the basis for the development of more appropriate strategies to improve nursing ethics education programs.