Small Change, Big Difference – Campaigning Nutrition and Dietary Advice in Norway

Background: Despite several positive trends in food consumption in Norway in recent years, large parts of the population still have a low intake of vegetables, fruits and whole grains and a high intake of saturated fat, sugar and salt. Unhealthy diets are one of the main risk factors that contribute to the burden of NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, type 2-diabetes and iron deficiency. The Norwegian dietary recommendations, were launched in 2011, and promote a varied diet with lots of vegetables and fruits, whole grain and fish, and limited amounts of processed meat, red meat, salt and sugar. They also underline the importance of a balanced diet and the equation between energy intake and outtake. According to annual population surveys on dietary habits, Norwegians had high confidence in the national dietary recommendations when they were launched in 2011. Around the same time, massive promotions of alternative diets such as the low-carb diet, hit the media landscape. This contributed to uncertainty among the consumers concerning both content- and validity of the recommendations. Confidence in the recommendations fell from 70 % when launched to about 50 % in 2012.

Program background: To regain the populations confidence, the Norwegian health authorities launched a long time communication effort on nutrition and diet; the campaign "Small change, big difference". The campaign promotes the idea that small adjustments in everyday life can make a big difference to health in the long term. The campaign aim to increase knowledge of- and confidence in the dietary recommendations, while at the same time showing how they can easily be translated into everyday habits. The communication aims at being inspiring, informative and feasible for everyone - not moralizing. "Small change, big difference" is also used as a brand. Through PR, digital channels, print, television and social media, the brand and campaign concept has sought continuous presence in the Norwegian media landscape. The use of social media has been a key in enhancing dialogue with the consumer. The target group is families with children.

Evaluation Methods and Results: The campaign pre- and post-tests its messages and activities. The FB-campaign page gained 110 000 followers between fall 2012 and spring 2014. Annual surveys of consumer knowledge, confidence and attitudes in the dietary recommendations, has been conducted. Surveys show an increase in confidence from 50 % in 2012 to 61 % in January 2014, and a decrease in uncertainty from 31% to17%. Consumer’s knowledge has increased from 41% in 2013 to 47 % in 2014.

Conclusions: The campaign has managed to increase the awareness and confidence of the national dietary recommendations. The use of social media has in particular enabled the Norwegian health authorities to interact with far more people than otherwise possible through regular communication channels. Building the brand "Small change, big difference" over time by using different arenas of communication that support each other, has strengthened the communication.

Implications for research and/or practice: Brand building, use of social media and long term communication commitment have been important success factors in communication of diet and nutrition in Norway.