Nutrition&magazines-ACSH summary - EFR 6-27

William Evers (EVERSB@cfs.purdue.edu)

ELECTRONIC FOOD RAP
VOL. 6 NO. 27

Bill Evers, PhD, RD and April Mason, PhD
Extension Foods and Nutrition Specialists

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) recently put out their latest survey of popular magazines' coverage of nutrition. There are now six of these surveys. Below is a summary of all of them. Please note the explanations at the beginning. For a complete picture, you should order the survey(s) directly from ACSH. NOTE: To make the table below appear aligned on the screen and/or in print, you should use a fixed type font such as Courier. Proportionate fonts will cause the rows to shift so that the columns are not correct.

A Summary of Information The American Council on Science and Health's Surveys on Nutritional Accuracy in American Magazines 1982-94

Summarized by William D. Evers, PhD, RD Dept. of Foods and Nutrition Purdue University West Lafayette, IN

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt consumer education association. Since 1982 ACSH has conducted surveys to determine which of the popular magazines provided the most accurate information related to diet, nutrition and health issues. Criteria for judging in the surveys has changed somewhat over the years, so comparisons between surveys are not as reliable as comparing among magazines within a survey.

The enclosed information gives the final rating for each magazine as determined for the particular survey. This "box score" gives only the rating. To really understand the evaluations it is recommended that the entire report be read to evaluate how the scores were determined and to read the comments related to each magazine

It should be noted that, prior to the 1990-92 survey, distinctions were made between the amount of coverage a particular magazine gave to nutrition. This distinction is not shown in the table that follows. Rating criteria and methodology for the 1990-92 and 1992-94 surveys were similar so the results of those 2 surveys can be compared directly. Earlier surveys are not directly comparable. Not all magazines were surveyed each time. This is shown by the NR (not rated) ranking.

Several magazines were only evaluated in the first one or two surveys. These magazines are not shown in the table since they do not provide new information.

The survey results were taken from the following sources: 

1982      ACSH News & Views 3(1):1-2, January/February 1982.
1984      ACSH News & Views 5(3):1,8-10, May/June 1984.
1986      ACSH News & Views 7(5):1,8-10, November/December 1986.
1986-88   Special Report-The 1986-1988 ACSH Survey on Nutrtional
          Accuracy in American Magazines, March, 1989.
1990-92   Special Report-Nutrition Accuracy in Popular Magazines
          (1990-1992), July, 1994.
1992-94   Special Report-Nutrition Accuracy in Popular Magazines
          (1992-1994),  May, 1996.


     Copies of the special reports and information on the other
surveys may be obtained by contacting:

ACSH
1995 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York City, NY  10023-5860
212-362-7044
Fax:  212-362-4919


____________________________________________________________

Magazine                        ACSH Rating*
                 1982    1984   1986    86-88  90-92   92-94
____________________________________________________________

American Health   NR      G      G       F      G       G

Better Homes &    NR      E      E       F      G       E
Gardens

Changing Times    NR      E      E       G      NR      NR

Consumer Reports  NR      E      E       E      G       E

Consumer's Digest NR      G      E       F      NR      NR

Cooking Light     NR      NR     NR      NR     E       G

Cosmopolitan      P       P      P       F      P       P

Essence           P       E      G       F      NR      NR

Family Circle     F       F      G       F      F       NR

Glamour           F       E      G       F      G       G

Good Housekeeping G       E      G       G      G       G

Harper's Bazaar   P       P      P       NR     F       NR

Health            NR      E      G       F      F       G

Ladies' Home      F       F      P       P      F       NR
Journal

Mademoiselle      P       G      F       F      F       G

McCall's          F       F      G       G      G       G

Men's Health      NR      NR     NR      NR     NR      F

New Woman         NR      NR     NR      NR     F       F

Parents           G       E      E       G      G       E

Prevention        P       P      F       F      G       G

Reader's Digest   G       E      G       G      G       G

Redbook           G       E      F       G      G       G

Runner's World    NR      F      NR      NR     F       F

Self              NR      E      G       F      F       G

Seventeen         F       E      G       G      NR      NR

Vogue             F       G      G       G      F       F

Woman's Day       F       NR     G       G      G       G
____________________________________________________________
*Ratings
  E = Excellent              G = Good or Generally reliable
  F = Fair or Inconsistent   P = Poor or Unreliable
  NR = Not Rated





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