'Gut health' and the microbiome in the popular press: a content analysis.
microbiology
public health
qualitative research
Journal
BMJ open
ISSN: 2044-6055
Titre abrégé: BMJ Open
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101552874
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
29 07 2021
29 07 2021
Historique:
entrez:
30
7
2021
pubmed:
31
7
2021
medline:
5
8
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Extensive research and important discoveries on the microbiome have led to a growth in media coverage. This study explores how the microbiome has been portrayed in press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences. Content analysis. Using the FACTIVA Database, we compiled a finalised data set of (N=830) articles from press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences which were published between 1 January 2018 and 11 October 2019 and which contained at least one of the following search terms: 'microbiome', 'microbiota', 'gut health', 'healthy gut', 'unhealthy gut', 'gut bacteria', 'probiotic' or 'probiotics.' We performed content analysis on the articles to determine how often ideas of the microbiome were presented as beneficial, in which health contexts, and whether actions could be taken to reap stated benefits. We compared this portrayal of benefits with critical portrayals of the microbiome. Almost all of the articles (94%) described health benefits associated with the microbiome with many (79%) describing actions which could be taken to reap stated benefits. Articles most often described health benefits in more broad, general context (34%) and most commonly outlined actions related to food/drug (45%) as well as probiotic (27%) intake. Only some articles (19%) provided microbiome-related critiques or limitations. Some of the articles (22%) were focused on highlighting specific research developments, and in these articles, critiques or limitations were more common. Articles discussing the microbiome published for American and Canadian audiences typically hype the microbiome's impact and popularise gut health trends while only offering a little in the way of communicating microbiome science. Lifestyle choices including nutrition, taking probiotics, stress management and exercise are often promoted as means of reaping the microbiome-related health benefits. The trend of actionable 'gut health' is foregrounded over more evidence-based descriptions of microbiome science.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34326057
pii: bmjopen-2021-052446
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052446
pmc: PMC8323349
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e052446Informations de copyright
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Competing interests: None declared.
Références
Public Health Genomics. 2012;15(3-4):209-17
pubmed: 22488464
Qual Health Res. 2005 Nov;15(9):1277-88
pubmed: 16204405
Lancet Oncol. 2019 Feb;20(2):e77-e91
pubmed: 30712808
Nature. 2014 Aug 21;512(7514):247-8
pubmed: 25143098
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Dec;17(12):717
pubmed: 31719687
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019 Jan;73(1):24-37
pubmed: 29581563
NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2019 Jul 1;5(1):18
pubmed: 31285833
Nutr Rev. 2012 Aug;70 Suppl 1:S38-44
pubmed: 22861806
Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 10;12(1):921
pubmed: 33568667
Lancet. 2019 Aug 3;394(10196):420-431
pubmed: 31379333
PLoS One. 2019 Apr 23;14(4):e0215805
pubmed: 31013310
Yale J Biol Med. 2016 Sep 30;89(3):363-373
pubmed: 27698620
Front Microbiol. 2020 Feb 28;11:160
pubmed: 32184760
Trends Microbiol. 2018 Sep;26(9):735-737
pubmed: 30025977
JAMA Netw Open. 2018 Oct 5;1(6):e182969
pubmed: 30646218
Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2017 Jan 6;13:3
pubmed: 28077947
Virtual Mentor. 2007 Mar 01;9(3):188-92
pubmed: 23217929
Front Microbiol. 2019 Mar 12;10:424
pubmed: 30930863
Lancet Respir Med. 2020 Nov;8(11):1094-1105
pubmed: 32220282
PLoS One. 2010 Mar 24;5(3):e9836
pubmed: 20352091
Nat Rev Nephrol. 2016 Mar;12(3):169-81
pubmed: 26616538
JAMA. 2019 Jan 15;321(2):151-152
pubmed: 30644970
Patient Educ Couns. 2011 Mar;82(3):420-8
pubmed: 21292424
Microb Biotechnol. 2020 Mar;13(2):423-434
pubmed: 31448542
BMJ Open. 2020 Oct 26;10(10):e040989
pubmed: 33109677
Acta Clin Belg. 2019 Apr;74(2):53-64
pubmed: 30810508
Gut. 2018 Sep;67(9):1716-1725
pubmed: 29934437
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Apr 30;4:CD004827
pubmed: 31039287
N Engl J Med. 2013 Jan 31;368(5):407-15
pubmed: 23323867
Science. 2017 Aug 25;357(6353):802-806
pubmed: 28839072
Br J Nutr. 2020 Sep 28;124(6):521-530
pubmed: 32238220
Behav Brain Sci. 2018 Sep 12;42:e60
pubmed: 30207256
Nat Microbiol. 2019 Apr;4(4):623-632
pubmed: 30718848
Bioessays. 2018 Dec;40(12):e1800178
pubmed: 30370932
Genome Med. 2016 Apr 13;8(1):39
pubmed: 27074706
Science. 2016 Apr 29;352(6285):544-5
pubmed: 27126037
Sci Transl Med. 2016 Jun 15;8(343):343ra81
pubmed: 27306663
JAMA. 2019 Dec 3;322(21):2069-2070
pubmed: 31626274
Protein Cell. 2018 May;9(5):404-415
pubmed: 29675808
PLoS One. 2021 Apr 9;16(4):e0249835
pubmed: 33836022
ISME J. 2016 Mar;10(3):707-20
pubmed: 26359913
J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2019 Jul 01;44(4):219-222
pubmed: 31245969
Genet Med. 2019 Oct;21(10):2184-2189
pubmed: 30976097
Sci Transl Med. 2015 Sep 30;7(307):307ra152
pubmed: 26424567
Cell. 2020 Jan 23;180(2):221-232
pubmed: 31978342