Tanya Berry has been physically active all her life?running cross-country, playing soccer, jogging?so she has a tough time imagining what it?s like to not exercise.
?I try hard to understand what it would be like to have not been active. I have to recognize that exercise is not easy for everybody.? And that?s where her biggest challenge lies as a researcher at the University of Alberta.
Berry, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, has taken up the challenge of exploring the complex link between advertising and the decisions we make about exercising. As an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Population Health investigator, she is seeking insights into how ads promoting physical activity attract attention, how their messages either compete or co-exist with other related themes such as appearance, and how those messages are interpreted by people.
?It?s a very crowded media world out there and we don?t understand the impacts of all those ads out there that include things like women doing yoga in a yogurt commercial. We don?t know how those images influence people.?
In a recent study, Berry and her colleagues gleaned the top 10 magazines in Canada and analyzed 57 ads that contained representations of physical activity. Only two advertisements actually promoted health; the others touted commercial products. ?There is really just a tiny proportion of ads out there saying ?exercise for health?. The risk is that the health message is getting lost, so people aren?t exercising at all.? As well, people might substitute the advertisement?s message for exercise, Berry said. ?The message could be interpreted as, ?If you eat this yogurt you will become the person doing yoga.??
Through her research, Berry wants to find out the best ways to promote physical health in particular, and the whole idea of health, generally. ?I want to help people know what would be effective for them. That?s the magic question.?
She first began linking psychology with exercise while performing as a varsity athlete at the University of Victoria, where she ran with fellow team members. She was taking an undergraduate degree in science with plans to become a psychologist, when she noticed something awry with a few of her friends. ?Some of them had severe eating disorders, to try and increase their performance, and it concerned me that I didn?t know how to talk to them. It led me down the path to a master?s degree.? After earning that in 1997, Berry stayed at the University of Victoria to earn her PhD in physical education. It was a piece of paper she hadn?t intended on, at first.
?I wouldn?t have that PhD if it weren?t for sports. I was interested in neuropsychology as an undergraduate student, and then my advisor suggested sports psychology, and it seemed like a good fit.? Berry arrived at the University of Alberta in 2005 as a research associate with the U of A?s Alberta Centre for Active Living, and then joined the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation the following year.
The need to explore better ways to promote physical fitness and activity is important, Berry said. ?Roughly half of all Canadian adults aren?t doing enough to achieve health benefits. It?s a major cause for concern and our lives are engineered to be sedentary. We are becoming more efficient at not being active.?
Ultimately, the benefits of exercising the body are overwhelming, she believes. ?There?s no question. If you could put exercise in a pill form it would be the number-one selling pill of all time.?
?I try hard to understand what it would be like to have not been active. I have to recognize that exercise is not easy for everybody.? And that?s where her biggest challenge lies as a researcher at the University of Alberta.
Berry, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, has taken up the challenge of exploring the complex link between advertising and the decisions we make about exercising. As an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Population Health investigator, she is seeking insights into how ads promoting physical activity attract attention, how their messages either compete or co-exist with other related themes such as appearance, and how those messages are interpreted by people.
?It?s a very crowded media world out there and we don?t understand the impacts of all those ads out there that include things like women doing yoga in a yogurt commercial. We don?t know how those images influence people.?
In a recent study, Berry and her colleagues gleaned the top 10 magazines in Canada and analyzed 57 ads that contained representations of physical activity. Only two advertisements actually promoted health; the others touted commercial products. ?There is really just a tiny proportion of ads out there saying ?exercise for health?. The risk is that the health message is getting lost, so people aren?t exercising at all.? As well, people might substitute the advertisement?s message for exercise, Berry said. ?The message could be interpreted as, ?If you eat this yogurt you will become the person doing yoga.??
Through her research, Berry wants to find out the best ways to promote physical health in particular, and the whole idea of health, generally. ?I want to help people know what would be effective for them. That?s the magic question.?
She first began linking psychology with exercise while performing as a varsity athlete at the University of Victoria, where she ran with fellow team members. She was taking an undergraduate degree in science with plans to become a psychologist, when she noticed something awry with a few of her friends. ?Some of them had severe eating disorders, to try and increase their performance, and it concerned me that I didn?t know how to talk to them. It led me down the path to a master?s degree.? After earning that in 1997, Berry stayed at the University of Victoria to earn her PhD in physical education. It was a piece of paper she hadn?t intended on, at first.
?I wouldn?t have that PhD if it weren?t for sports. I was interested in neuropsychology as an undergraduate student, and then my advisor suggested sports psychology, and it seemed like a good fit.? Berry arrived at the University of Alberta in 2005 as a research associate with the U of A?s Alberta Centre for Active Living, and then joined the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation the following year.
The need to explore better ways to promote physical fitness and activity is important, Berry said. ?Roughly half of all Canadian adults aren?t doing enough to achieve health benefits. It?s a major cause for concern and our lives are engineered to be sedentary. We are becoming more efficient at not being active.?
Ultimately, the benefits of exercising the body are overwhelming, she believes. ?There?s no question. If you could put exercise in a pill form it would be the number-one selling pill of all time.?