Taking the die out of diet: Media and interpersonal communication’s impact on healthy eating habits Correspondence to: Min-Woo Kwon, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, The University of Wisconsin at Madison, 5050 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA mkwon3@wisc.edu Min-Woo Kwon, Woohyun Yoo and Michael Aguilar School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI, USA Abstract This study employed the citizen communication mediation model to investigate how informational media use and interpersonal communication as well as attitude contribute to the improvement of healthy diet habit, fruit and vegetable consumption. In addition, this study identifies the flow of health information on media through interpersonal com- munication, leading to the behavior. To examine the relationships between media use on health information, interpersonal communication, atti- tude, and the dietary behavior, this study uses a nationally representative survey of 3827 adults in the United States, the 2009 National Health Communication Survey. The results show that infor- mational media use and interpersonal communi- cation as well as attitude plays a crucial role in the improvement of the target behavior. The impli- cations of these findings are discussed. Keywords: Fruit and vegetable consumption, Informational media use, Interpersonal communi- cation, Structural equation modeling, The 2009 ANHCS The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released mortality data indicating that in 2009 cardiovascular disease including heart disease was the leading cause of death in the United States. 1 Regarding cardiovascular disease, previous research considers high levels of blood cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and adverse dietary habits as risk factors. 2,3 Along with these risk factors, research has also revealed negative relationships between regular consumption of fruits and vegetables and the risk of cardiovascular disease. That is, fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with the reduction in threats to cardio- vascular health. 4 In addition, research (e.g. Gandini et al. 5 : breast cancer risk) has addressed a positive relationship between fruit and vegetable consump- tion and a decrease in cancer risk, cancer being the second leading cause of death in the US. For these reasons, the behavioral modification of individual life- style in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption has received much scholarly attention. 6 Although there is evidence to support the salubrious benefits of con- suming fruits and vegetables for an individual’s health condition, more than half of all American adult’s diets do not satisfy nationally recognized dietary guidelines for daily fruit and vegetable con- sumption: at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day. 7,8 Thus, identifying effective interventions to promote fruit and vegetable consumption has been a topic of increasing concern for scholars and public health practitioners. With respect to determinants of behavioral modi- fication, previous research, especially in political science, has considered media use and indicated that informational media use such as TV news viewing plays a crucial role in increasing knowledge and awareness about social issues, leading to par- ticipation in social activities. 9 For example, Shah et al. 10 found that watching TV news programs as well as newspaper reading is positively linked to the increase in civic engagement (e.g. citizens’ com- munity participation and charitable donation). This logic has been found in health contexts as well. For example, Booth et al. 11 indicated that a positive impact of a mass media campaign, such as TV advertising on a physical activity, is an increase in the proportion of people aged over 50 years who follow the recommendation of the health campaign. However, many of the studies on this topic have 3 © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2013 DOI: 10.1179/1753807612Y.0000000030 Journal of Communication in Healthcare 2013 VOL. 6 NO. 1