Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Social marketing to prevent childhood obesity
These seven overarching communication principles
are fundamental to social marketing campaign decisions.
The rest of this chapter discusses some of the
basic social marketing principles that guide the development
of successful campaigns.
Marketing p rinciples
“ Getting the r ight m essage ” for d ifferent
t arget m arkets
Creating effective communication messages involves
a two - step process: “ getting the right message ” and
“ getting the message right ” . 13 The first step involves
reference to three types of research:
1. Epidemiological research (using population-based
statistical evidence to identify risk and protective
factors in health issues), for example: What does
the epidemiological evidence say about preventing
obesity (e.g., 30 minutes of physical activity on
most days a week has a significant effect on some
indicators of adult health such as reducing cardiovascular
diseases outcomes, but the evidence on
the amount needed to prevent unhealthy weight
gain in children is less certain and may be up to 60
minutes a day)?
2. Formative research (using qualitative methodologies
such as focus groups, in - depth interviews):
What do people say will motivate them to try to
change behavior (e.g., to eat more fruit and vegetables)
through changing attitudes and beliefs?
3. Evidence-based research (referring to available
evaluations of previous strategies): What has been
done before and deemed to be effective, having
been rigorously evaluated against established
benchmarks (e.g., which previous messages around
healthy food choices resulted in measurable dietary
changes)?
When trying to change behaviors relating to childhood
obesity, we first have to decide what is the right
message to communicate. When targeting children,
we can decide on the basis of formative research with
children which of the following we should be recommending:
eat healthy, eat more fruit and vegetables,
eat less fat, avoid soft drinks, be more physically
active, be less sedentary, play outside more, sit inside
watching tv/playing computer games less, watch no
more than a certain number of hours on TV, and so
on. Within the target market of “ children ” , there will
be subsections. The US physical activity VERB campaign
found that their messages around fun were
more appealing to younger children and their messages
around peers, competition and mastery appealed
more to older children. 14
When targeting parents, it is worth bearing in mind
that parents have three roles 15 that can influence a
child ’ s nutrition and physical activity levels: they
provide specific foods and physical activity options for
the child; they model food consumption and activity
levels; and they control (at least to some extent) the
child ’ s environment, determining the quality and
diversity of experiences at mealtimes and activity
times. We can decide on the basis of formative research
with parents, whether it is best to recommend that
mother or father or both: buy healthier food, withhold
soft drinks, provide a certain number of serves of fruit
and vegetables, offer smaller portions, allow fewer
snacks, eat without distractions (e.g. television), persuade
children to go outside to play, try different
activities, accompany them on a walk to school, and
so on. Within the target market of “ parents ”, there
will be subsections: different messages will be appropriate
for mothers and fathers, grandparents or other
carers (Box 28.3 ).
Box 28.3 Getting the
message right
Although social marketers often think of formative
research (focus groups with target audiences) as
essential, it is interesting that EPODE has been developed
more on evidence from the health and behavioral
literature, and field experience. The primary target
is families of children 0 – 12 years and the focus is on
the adoption of healthier food choices and eating
habits, and a more active lifestyle for everyone in the
family. EPODE determined that children are unlikely to
respond to cognitive - based strategies, for example
“ Eat 2 fruit a day ” , finding that it is better to concentrate
on one simple message at a time, reinforcing it
with activities, and repeating it over a long time period.
For example, some of EPODE ’ s strategies to increase
fruit consumption are to suggest children try fruit compotes
or fresh fruit in yoghurt, taste small pieces,
participate in preparing fruit with others, and take it
step by step. A key aspect is that there is never any
stigma attached to a child who is reluctant to
participate.
245