Students select sample advertisements for health products from the print and broadcast media.
Peers cooperate to identify the health information and evaluate intended messages.
Students present their conclusions orally to their peers, including suggestions to change the ads to help consumers to make informed purchase decisions. This lesson should be used as one component of a unit on consumer health education. Combining didactic presentation of health information with student exercises enriched health education instruction. The lesson was useful to encourage class participation by all students, particularly those who had been reluctant to join previous class discussions. The purpose of the consumer health activity is to teach students basic criteria for evaluating advertisements for health-related products in commercial media.