Behavior Change In Action: The Best Bones Forever! Atlanta Dance Contest

Background: Best Bones Forever! is a campaign developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH) to increase calcium and vitamin D consumption and physical activity among girls ages 9-14. The campaign is rooted in social marketing and uses themes of friendship to encourage girls and their BFFs (best friends forever) to “grow strong together, stay strong forever.” It also promotes behavior change by making it fun, attractive, appealing, and popular.   

Program background: One way Best Bones Forever! promoted behavior change was with a dance contest held in Atlanta, GA. The Best Bones Forever! team worked with local non-profits to launch the six-week contest in September 2010. As part of the contest, girls and their BFFs were invited to choreograph a routine to one of three songs and submit a video of themselves performing the dance. The top six teams were invited to a final showdown at Lenox Square Mall, which was emceed by a DJ from a local radio station and featured an Atlanta-based dance crew that was featured on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. Messages about bone health were woven in throughout the event and on Saturday and Sunday the fun continued with a variety of bone-building activities, such as cheese tasting and Just Dance 2 on Ninteno Wii.

Evaluation Methods and Results: An evaluation was conducted to determine event satisfaction, outcomes, replicability, and brand equity. Surveys were given at both the dance contest and Saturday/Sunday event, a focus group was held with dance contest participants, and one-on-one interviews were conducted with partners.  Results showed that event attendees were highly satisfied with the event and that their awareness of and attitudes about calcium, vitamin D, and physical activity positively increased. In addition, results showed that brand equity was high—those who attended the event had a favorable view of Best Bones Forever!, strongly agreeing that they liked the campaign colors, would tell a friend about the campaign, and that they would wear something with the Best Bones Forever! logo.

Conclusions: Overall, the Best Bones Forever! Atlanta Dance Contest was a success. The event was fun, engaging, and unique, it reached girls in the target audience with important messages about bone health in a way that resonated, and it allowed girls to directly participate in bone-building activities. The event also increased knowledge about calcium, vitamin D, and physical activity and confirmed that girls think Best Bones Forever! is “cool.”

Implications for research and/or practice: The results of the evaluation revealed important information related planning, implementation, and working with partners.  In addition, important lessons were learned about how to reach tween girls and engage them in behavior change.  Lessons included: 1) plan events in popular places with cool-to-the-audience spokespeople; 2) make it memorable; 3) partner with community-based groups that have reach with the target audience; and 4) allow plenty of time for promotion and web-based contest entry. These lessons can help other campaigns or programs seeking to reach a young audience.