In the Polish society, the mass media still remain the most important source of information concerning not only the events but also lifestyle and health promoting behaviour, irrespective of the frequency of contacts with a particular mass medium. The importance of the educational function of television, radio and press in shaping the attitudes and health promoting behaviour was reflected in the National Health Programme and in the Radio and Television Act.

The aim of the study was to define, both quantitatively and qualitatively the scope of information popularizing various health issues found in the programmes of selected TV stations and newspapers.

The analysis included four TV stations which have the highest number of viewers, i.e. TVP1 - 24.9%, TVP2 -20.70%, Polsat - 17.90% and TVN - 13.40%, and newspapers having the largest number of readers, i.e. Gazeta Wyborcza - 17.44%, Super Express - 12.74%, Rzeczpospolita - 4.36%.

The material analysed consisted of the programmes offered by the selected TV stations between 20 Sep. 2002–17 Oct. 2002 and 30 May 2003–27 June 2003 (57 days altogether) and by newspapers between 30 May 2003–27 June 2003 (29 days altogether). The programmes of the selected TV stations and article headings were reviewed as regards health maintenance and recovery issues they discussed. The material collected was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively.

The study determined the percentage of programmes about health in the whole broadcast time and the frequency of the appearance of article on health in a given daily newspaper. The material was evaluated with regard to the number of hours of broadcasting programmes concerning health issues and days of the week on which they appear most frequently. They were also classified to particular subject categories.