The New York Times Magazine Announces New Food Column; Amanda Hesser’s ‘Food Diary’ to Begin May 13

What does a food reporter eat? Two dozen doughnuts, for one story, scallops at five different restaurants for another. What about in “real life,” on a first date, when home alone, or cooking for someone special? Beginning May 13, New York Times Dining In/Dining Out Reporter Amanda Hesser will share her experiences and adventures with food in “Food Diary: Confessions of a Woman Who Loves Food Too Much,” a new column in The New York Times Magazine. “Food Diary” will alternate with Jonathan Reynolds’s “Food” column and together replace freelancer Molly O’Neill’s food coverage.

Hesser is a trained cook, cookbook author and food reporter while Reynolds, a playwright and screenwriter, boasts no food credentials apart from loving to eat. “Any reporter who covers a beat obsesses on his or her subject,” said Amy Spindler, style editor of The New York Times Magazine. “Amanda Hesser’s reporting on food has revolutionized The New York Times, and now magazine readers can get insight on how thinking about food – perhaps too much – affects her everyday life. Her insider’s perspective complements Jonathan’s layman’s perspective, providing a fun `she said/he said’ quality to our coverage.”

“Food Diary” debuts with “The First Supper,” in which Hesser recalls the first meal she cooked for her boyfriend. “First meals are intimate … Dinner guests can see by how you compose a dinner if you are an ungenerous hothead or a nurturer, stingy or clever, fussy or stylish. Which is probably why I lost sleep over what to cook for him.” With warmth and humor Hesser relates the meal’s highs (a successfully roasted guinea hen) and the lows (the smoked salmon starter – he didn’t like smoked fish) and includes the recipes.

“Food Diary” will take inspiration from Hesser’s life and will provide continuing story lines with returning characters, while Reynolds’s “Food” column will continue to range far and wide with eclectic stories about authentic tamales made by Mexican immigrants to pineapple upside-down cake.

Hesser has apprenticed and cooked in France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, and is the author of “The Cook and the Gardener.” She joined The Times in 1997 and has covered topics from manzanilla sherry in Spain to the cranberry industry to the use of salt as a seasoning in desserts.

The New York Times celebrates its 150th anniversary this fall. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, the New-York Daily Times, as it was known, began as a four-page paper. It soon became a success, appealing to readers who wanted impartial coverage of the day’s news. Today, The Times circulates to 1.1 million readers daily (1.7 million on Sundays) and has more than 1,200 newsroom employees in 47 news bureaus worldwide. The newspaper is now available nationally, while The New York Times on the Web (www.nytimes.com) reaches a worldwide audience. Committed to producing the finest possible news report every day, The New York Times has won 81 Pulitzer Prizes, far more than any other news organization.

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a diversified media company including newspapers, television and radio stations, and electronic information and publishing. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. In 2001 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune’s list of America’s Most Admired Companies. In October 2000 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune’s survey of the Global Most Admired Companies and was ranked first among all companies in the survey for the quality of its products and services.

The Company, which had 2000 revenues of $3.5 billion, publishes The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 15 other newspapers; operates eight network-affiliated television stations and owns two New York City radio stations. It also operates news, photo and graphics services as well as news and feature syndicates. A division of the Company, New York Times Digital, operates Internet properties such as NYTimes.com, Boston.com and newyorktoday.com. The Company holds interests in one newsprint mill, one supercalendered paper mill and the International Herald Tribune S.A.S.

Diet articles linked to girls’ eating woes

Magazine headlines entice teenage girls with promises: “Get the body you want” and “Hit your dream weight now!” But a new study suggests reading articles about diet and weight loss could have unhealthy consequences later.
Teenage girls who frequently read magazine articles about dieting were more likely five years later to practice extreme weight-loss measures such as vomiting than girls who never read such articles, the University of Minnesota study found.
It didn’t seem to matter whether the girls were overweight when they started reading about weight loss, nor whether they considered their weight important. After taking those factors into account, researchers still found reading articles about dieting predicted later unhealthy weight loss behavior.
Girls in middle school who read dieting articles were twice as likely five years later to try to lose weight by fasting or smoking cigarettes, compared to girls who never read such articles. They were three times more likely to use measures such as vomiting or taking laxatives, the study found.
“The articles may be offering advice such as cutting out trans fats and soda, and those are good ideas for everybody,” said Alison Field of Harvard Medical School, who has done similar research but wasn’t involved in the new study. “But the underlying messages these articles send are ‘You should be concerned about your weight and you should be doing something.’”
The study appeared in January’s issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Its findings were based on surveys and weight-height measurements of 2,516 middle school students in 1999 and again in 2004. About 45 percent of the students were boys.
Only 14 percent of boys reported reading diet articles frequently, compared to 44 percent of girls. For those boys who did read about weight loss, there was no similar lasting effect on behavior.
In the new study, it was unclear whether it was the diet articles themselves or accompanying photographs of thin models that made a difference. The study didn’t ask teenagers which magazines they read, only how frequently they read magazine articles “in which dieting or weight loss are discussed.”
The study was based on students’ self-reports about their behavior and, like all surveys, could be skewed by teenagers telling researchers what they think they want to hear, said study co-author Patricia van den Berg.
She said parents should carefully consider whether they want their daughters reading about weight loss.
Parents also should discuss magazines’ messages with their daughters, she said.
“Talk to your kids about where these messages are coming from,” she said.
Doctors’ waiting rooms are no place for magazines promoting diet and weight loss, she said, “in the same way you don’t have materials promoting smoking in waiting rooms.”
Nathan Christopher, a spokesman for Seventeen magazine, said health is important to the magazine’s readers. He wouldn’t comment specifically on the study because it was unclear which magazines the teenagers read.
“We have always featured information to help them lead healthy lives, including fitness tips, first-person health stories, and nutrition facts. Promoting a healthy body image is a priority, so each issue of Seventeen features teens with realistic body types,” he said.
In January, Seventeen magazine and its Web site will kick off a yearlong program called “New Body, New You,” which will feature expert advice on nutrition, health and fitness topics, he said.
The study adds to evidence that girls’ attitudes toward their bodies are shaped by popular culture.
Previous studies have found that images of thin fashion models give girls immediate negative feelings about their bodies. Public awareness of the issue increased in September when Madrid’s Fashion Week banned underweight models and again with the Nov. 14 death of anorexic Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston.