4.1. Content

Although both newspapers generally address similar topics (table 3), the frequency at which they appear differs from one to the other. The texts can be divided into 15 large groups according to content. If in doubt, the topic highlighted in the headline was prioritised. “Healthy nutrition”, “Sugar”, “Food properties” and “Diets” are the four topics which receive special attention in both elpais.com and lavanguardia.com, although not necessarily giving them the same priority.

The “Healthy nutrition” section is the most repeated in elpais.com (19.8%), although it only comes in third in lavanguardia.com (17.2%). This descriptor encompasses texts that claim to guide the reader, so their food is as healthy as possible. “Our food is increasingly safer but less healthy” (elpais.com, 14/02/2017) or “What should we eat to feel better” (lavanguardia.com, 06/03/2017) are examples of this type of article.

On the other hand, different types of diet are the main topic in lavanguardia.com (20.2% of the total), whilst elpais.com puts this in fourth position (9.1%). News in this section might include the following: “What is a ‘ketogenic’ diet and why is it all the rage?” (lavanguardia.com, 19/02/2017) or “The unexpected benefits of a million-year-old diet” (elpais.com, 30/08/2017).

Problems derived from eating sugar are the second most repeated question in elpais.com (11.6%) and the fourth in lavanguardia.com (6.5%). It is worth remembering the controversy around this product aroused by recommendations from the World Health Organisation (2015) to reduce consumption of free sugars to less than 10% of total calorie intake.

Table 3: Main contents on Nutrition.