Comparing Obesity Framing in UK and US Media

We selected newspapers based in the UK and US. These countries are representative of the Anglo-Saxon world, yet have distinct socio-economic and healthcare contexts that might impact how the topic is framed in the media. Specifically, in the UK, resources for healthcare interventions are allocated through the National Health Service (NHS), whereas in the US the publicly financed Medicare and Medicaid health coverage coexists with privately financed coverage, which is unaffordable for many Americans. In both countries, pediatric obesity rates are high, and adolescent bariatric surgery has been available for some time. Consequently, obesity and bariatric surgery are being discussed not only in the scientific community but also in the national and regional media.