“Although television gets a bad rap for its association with inactivity, mindless snacking, and weight gain, there is an oft-overlooked upside to tuning into many of today’s popular programs: health education. “In 2004, just over half of top primetime shows featured health-related storylines. In 2010, about 80 percent of shows did,” says Sandra Buffington, director of the Hollywood, Health & Society (HHS) organization, which, through its partnerships with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the University of Southern California Annenberg Norman Lear Center, works with entertainment writers to responsibly portray health storylines on television and in film.
Fans are paying attention to the plots, which address everything from Asperger’s syndrome to cancer. “According to our research, more than two-thirds of viewers learn something about health from the shows they watch, and one-third of those viewers take action,” says Buffington, such as scheduling a doctor’s appointment to get their own symptoms checked out. Here, experts point out the most informative and inspiring health-related shows on the tube today, and why you should tune in — or add them to your Netflix queue.”
READ MORE via A Healthy Dose of Primetime Drama – EverydayHealth.com.