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CORVALLIS - Those free health publications you pick up at your doctor's office or local fitness club might contain some good advice, but a new study by researchers at Oregon State University has found that they probably also contain a fair amount of advertising.

The advertising doesn't mean the health tips are inaccurate or ineffective, the researchers say. But consumers should take with a grain of salt recommendations that focus on a single brand or product.

"Our goal in the study wasn't to judge the quality of the publications themselves, it was to quantify how much advertising exists in these free publications," said Bradley J. Cardinal, an associate professor of exercise and sport science at OSU. "There is a fair amount. On one hand, it allows health promotion programs on a shoestring budget to offer these publications.

"However, advertising can undermine the credibility of these programs, especially if it carries the suggestion of product endorsement," Cardinal added.

The OSU study was published this week in the new issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

For the study, the researchers gathered printed materials - brochures, leaflets, etc. - from 80 different sources. These free materials were being offered in doctors' offices, at regional health and fitness events, from government agencies, and from other health and fitness professionals.

A vast majority of the materials, 92.5 percent, contained at least the logo of a private agency, and 46.3 percent of the materials included an advertising slogan. About 16.3 percent of the materials went so far as to suggest using specific brands or products.

The materials that were produced by commercial vendors were more likely to contain specific brand endorsements (39.3 percent). However, materials that were offered by nonprofit sources surprisingly were more like to include advertising slogans (65.2 percent) than those materials produced by commercial vendors (50 percent). Materials originating from government agencies (30.7 percent) and from professional health associations (25 percent) were less likely to have advertising slogans.

"Some of the advertising is overt, and some is so subtle it is almost subliminal," Cardinal said. "The question of whether the advertising undermines the credibility of the material - or whether the benefits outweigh the risks - is a conversation that physicians and health professionals should have with the agencies that provide these materials."

Having such materials in doctors' offices, for example, may imply an endorsement of products that are advertised on those printed materials, whether it is the logo of a pharmaceutical company at the top of a flyer about sore muscles, or the suggestion that a certain brand of shoes may help beginners start an exercise regimen, Cardinal said.

Some examples of frequently advertising products include anti-inflammatory medicines, sports equipment manufacturers, apparel manufacturers - especially athletic shoes, sports nutrition drinks, and energy food bars.

"One of the printed materials was for a weight-loss program that included a tear-off coupon for free candy," Cardinal said. "When that kind of advertising creeps in, you may have a problem."