Talking About Health; Why Health Communication Matters

Health communication and children’s backpacks: Should they carry a warning label?

August 12, 2012

Warning labels. We find them on so many things. And we too often ignore them. But parents are devoted to knowing what dangers face their children. So parents often read warning labels that have to do with products they might purchase for a son or daughter. Such warnings appear on bicycle safety helmets. The CDC notes that,

“Three organizations — ANSI, the Snell Memorial Foundation, and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) — have developed voluntary standards for bicycle helmets Table_1. Helmets are tested for the amount of impact protection they provide by dropping the upper torso and helmeted head of a crash-test dummy (i.e., a “helmeted headform”) onto a metal anvil and measuring the amount of force on the headform (22). Testing for strap-system strength is done by dropping a weight on the fastened strap; the weight causes weaker strap systems (i.e., straps or buckles) to break. Helmets that meet Snell standards provide better protection against bicycle- related head injury than do helmets that meet the less rigorous ANSI standards (18). The Consumer Product Safety Commission is developing federal standards for bicycle helmets. These standards will apply to all helmets sold in the United States and will most likely be similar to the existing standards.

All three existing standards require that manufacturers include warning labels that advise consumers that helmets are for bicycle use only (e.g., “not for motor-vehicle use” {23}) (24, 25). In addition, manufacturers are required to warn consumers (e.g., by including a warning label in the helmet) that a) a helmet that has sustained an impact should be returned to the manufacturer for inspection or be destroyed and replaced, and b) helmets need to be fitted and securely fastened to the bicyclist’s head to provide maximum protection”

Some research and experience begins to suggest that perhaps a warning label should appear on children’s backpacks. Some backpacks used for recreational backpacking have warning labels

Some children’s backpacks have warning labels because the material that the pack is made from includes content known to be a cause of cancer. See this review for example:

“This item just arrived, a gift for my 2 year-old son. He was thrilled when he saw it. It was therefore terribly upsetting to discover the following warning (in tiny print) on one of the product labels: “WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.” This warning follows the requirements of California Proposition 65 (ample material about it on the web). This warning is, of course, unacceptably vague. However, no caring parent would risk exposing their child to a toxic substance. This morning, my son woke up asking for his backpack. I am saddened, angered, and frustrated that he and I have been put in this position by inadequate regulation of toy safety (the backpack is made in China) and inadequate disclosure (both on the toy tag and on the Amazon website) identifying the specific potential risk” [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00036941.htm].

Consumer reports suggests that the size of the backpack, including how far down on a child’s back it falls and the width of straps, is important for the comfort of the pack for your child. For a full review of things to consider, see the report at: http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/how-to-pick-a-backpack-for-your-child-.html

Happy back to school shopping!

Why does Vicks vaporub say for ‘external use only’ on the warning label?

November 22, 2010

I took my plastic bag and whipped through my medicine cabinet, laundry room, and kitchen over the counter medication shelf. We were discussing warning labels in my undergraduate health communication class, and I use products from my home to have students identify the parts of the warning as we discuss the content and what the research says about the likely effects.

Several products say, ‘for external use only.’ One says to avoid use on the lips. The latter is a product called ‘bite-aid’ and it comes in a chapstick kind of container. I told the story about sitting in the airport and reaching into my purse for my chapterstick, feeling the ‘bite-aid’, and applying it to my lips. It didn’t take long to feel like my lips were swelling. I told my class about how I asked my husband if my lips were swelling. I told him how odd they were feeling after putting on my chapstick, which I held out to show him. Still not realizing that I was not holding out my chapstick. He took one look and said, ‘That’s not your chapstick.’ With surprise, I looked down, read the label, visited the bathroom and scrubbed my lips–which soon returned to feeling normal.

“That,” I told my class, “is an example of a potential harm related to a product that could be solved with different packaging.” As I noted, “I didn’t intentionally put it on my lips, so even though the label says, ‘do not use on lips’, that content didn’t really help in my situation.”

One of the student’s then told about how the Vicks vaporub said, ‘for external use only.’ “My grandmother always made us eat a tablespoon of it when we were sick,” she said. I hardly knew what to say to that. “Why?” I asked. “Because it is for your chest cold and that is how to get it in your chest.” I was quiet as I thought about that. “It works,” she said.

Another product a student had was benadryl gel. The label also said, ‘for external use only’. The student observed, “That’s probably because you usually take benadryl as a pill… and this liquid looks like you could put it in a spoon like cough syrup. So I bet some people have done that.”

Warning labels have content that may help us avoid harm…if we read them. …and they make sense.

What does health policy have to do with communicating about health?

joy-in-boat-hoc-2009 November 16, 2010

Product recalls. Nutrition labels. Informed consent documents. Patient package inserts. Lots of people spend a lot of time designing these messages. Yet, research shows that far too often, no one reads them. Of course, one reason we don’t read them is because the print is so small, we need a magnifying glass to see what it says. Other times, we take for granted that the product wouldn’t be available if it was going to be harmful. Still other times, we need to add up the content of product labels to know how much we are really getting. Too much of an ingredient, such as aspirin, can cause serious health problems and may occur because aspirin is included in creams being used for joint pain or products being used to treat cold symptoms or any number of other combinations of things being used that individually do not pose a risk but combined can even be deadly.

parrottch5fig2 Warning labels provide another way that policmakers are trying to assure that we have information to protect our health. Warning labels are designed to get our attention with a signal work about a hazard: caution, danger, or often–warning. The label also includes a statement about what makes the product risky. For example, if it contains alcohol, then it may be flammable. If it contains an herb, it may interact with prescribed medication or the drug to be used for your medical procedure. The label may also include a way to avoid the harm, such as talking with your doctor about using the product. And it may include content about outcomes that could occur, although these may be worded abstractly, such as–“adverse reaction”–meaning what exactly?

In the end, it is still up to us. Policies give us the chance to gain some information. They can’t make us read the labels and use them to make decisions…