Worldways Social Marketing has been working alongside Nemours Health & Prevention Services to fight the epidemic of Childhood Obesity.  As part of the campaign to “Make Delaware’s Kids the Healthiest in the Nation,” we created The Mighty Timoneers, a cartoon series aimed at entertaining, educating and influencing Delaware’s children, ages 6-11.

These lively cartoon characters not only engage and entertain children, they promote the motivation, ability and opportunity for Delaware’s kids to live healthy lifestyles. The campaign was developed using the Healthy People/ Healthy Places Framework.

With the creation of the Mighty Timoneers, Worldways Social Marketing has become a pioneer in utilizing entertainment media to help reduce childhood obesity.

Beginning September 1, we will post a weekly sketch of each Mighty Timoneers character, explaining why they were created, what they represent and how the Healthy People/Healthy Places Framework is used to  influence our target audience.

Be sure to come back next Tuesday and learn about the first of our four characters, Min.

View the case study, and learn more about the Mighty Timoneers Campaign.

Tagged as: Childhood obesity, Entertainment Media, healthy children, healthy people, Healthy Places, social marketing

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Originally published on 4/11/2007
I mentioned in a previous post that the fight against childhood obesity leaves many health organizations asking, “How do we reach the greatest number of children in the shortest period of time with the most efficient and sustainable use of resources to combat childhood obesity and promote healthier lifestyles?”

The People and Places Framework helps provide the answer to that question.

1. Define the desired outcome. For example, a population-based target for children within certain BMI (Body Mass Index) ranges and/or targets for certain weight-related morbidities or co-morbidities.

It’s also important to define the desired outcome of a proposed initiative: To foster the ability, opportunity and motivation for our area’s children to lead healthier lifestyles.

2. Define the behaviors that will be required to achieve those outcomes, and the status of those behaviors within the target populations. Children should eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, reduce intake of high calorie/low nutrient food, engage in at least an hour of physical activity daily, and reduce screen time to 2 hours or less. Their parents should take steps to enable these behaviors. Those who advise parents on their children’s health should address healthy lifestyles. And, those in a position to make policy and practice change should make changes to enable healthier lifestyles for kids.

For each of these groups (which may be further refined), status of the behavior can be charted along Prochaska, et. al.’s Five Stages of Behavior Change.

3. Generate possible interventions along the People and Places continuum and assess their relative efficacy. An approach targeting individuals would be largely educational, encouraging an individual to change behavior and/or join a program. An approach targeting groups would be programmatic, providing learning and engagement opportunities and/or leveraging social networking and other connections. An approach targeting populations would likely blend both social marketing and programmatic initiatives.

But what’s the best way to reach the desired outcomes? On one hand, policy or practice change close to where kids learn and develop would be desirable. For example, the elimination of soda machines from schools. But, on a broader scale, statewide policy mandating at least 210 minutes of exercise per week for school children might be seen as having the greatest impact.

In some instances, a population-wide social marketing intervention may make the most sense, especially if the solution to childhood obesity is seen as requiring a set of behavior changes. In others, a policy advocacy intervention may make the most sense, if it is broad enough to affect a key determinant of childhood obesity in an encompassing fashion.

The point is, there’s no single choice of intervention that fits all situations best. The first two steps, rigorously conducted, yield a significant foundation for the design and evaluation of alternative interventions. By using the People and Places Framework, we’re able to develop possible interventions, and the criteria to screen them against.

Tagged as: 5-2-1-Almost None, Childhood obesity, delaware, healthy people, Healthy Places

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A recent study by Yale University has found that TV Food Advertising Increases Snacking and Potential Weight Gain in Children and Adults. The study found that exposure to food advertising increased overall consumption, even for foods that had not been present in the adverts.

I found this study particularly interesting as it relates to
the 5-2-1-Almost None Formula promoted by one of our clients, Nemours Health and Prevention Services.

According to information on the Mighty Timoneers website:

The percentage of overweight youth has more than tripled in the last 20 years. About 35% of children in the U.S. and 37% in Delaware are overweight or obese.

Nemours has taken a leading role to help people understand the causes and health implications of obesity and the best ways to promote healthier lifestyles among children and families. Our “formula for a healthy lifestyle” is 5-2-1-Almost None

5-2-1-Almost none

• Eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day<
• watching two or fewer hours of screen time a day
• Getting one or more hours of physical activity a day
• And drinking almost no sugary beverages

At first glance, the Yale study may simple be pointing out the importance of substituting food advertisements for other types of ads. Yet another way to avoid exposure to such advertisements is simply to turn the television off completely. The 5-2-1-Almost None formula recommends limiting ‘screen time’ (television as well as computer) to two hours a day. Not only will this limit exposure to these ads, it may result in the adoption of more active pastimes.

To learn more about our childhood obesity work with Nemours Health and Prevention Services, you can review the case studies for two campaigns: The Mighty Timoneers and Kids Can’t Do It Alone.

Tagged as: Childhood obesity, healthy people, Nemours

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Originally published on 3/16/2007

The Healthy People/Healthy Places Framework was designed to be applied to myriad scenarios. Its application to childhood obesity is currently being fielded in Delaware a complement to the overarching work of Nemours Health & Prevention Services (NHPS).

NHPS is the health promotion and preventive services division of Nemours, one of the nation’s preeminent children’s healthcare systems. In early 2004, NHPS set the bold goal of making Delaware’s children the healthiest in the nation. A key component of that goal was addressing the challenge of childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity and the attendant health risks have reached epidemic proportions. Most of the efforts to reverse these alarming trends prescribe interventions in the areas of healthy eating and/or physical activity. There is some evidence-based best practice with regard to the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity. However, most interventions studied were not specifically focused on childhood obesity. The connections to be drawn are intuitive and many public health organizations are still left struggling with the question of, “How do we reach the greatest number of children in the shortest period of time with the most efficient and sustainable use of resources to combat childhood obesity and promote healthier lifestyles?”

The NHPS strategy has many facets, including a social marketing campaign based on the People/Places framework. Currently, Ed Maibach and I are proudly serving as advisors to NHPS, and Worldways is in the midst of helping to implement the statewide program to combat childhood obesity. Healthy People/Healthy Places has proven to be very relevant by: fostering an understanding of the dynamics of childhood obesity from both a behavioral and environmental perspective; providing a framework for codifying prospective interventions and determining the best mix of people- vs. place-based strategies; and determining the types of marketing, communications, program, policy, and environmental initiatives most likely to result in change.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking about the People/Places Framework, its application to challenging childhood obesity, key strategies evolved in Delaware and other places, and opportunities for future applications.

Tagged as: Childhood obesity, delaware, framework, healthy people, Healthy Places, Nemours

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