Absorbing Healthy Lifestyle Changes – Small Bites, Small Steps

Background:  Ranking 45^th nationally in overall health status, Oklahoma faces serious health challenges. High rates of obesity and smoking have made Oklahomans far more susceptible to preventable causes of death. TSET and OSDH partnered to support a multi-year, multi-platform health communication campaign, Shape Your Future (SYF). The SYF campaign aims to reduce preventable death by educating families about small steps to create healthier behaviors. Primary and secondary research revealed that while information exists to educate parents, the amount of information can overwhelm and make a healthy lifestyle feel unattainable within existing family dynamics. 

Program background:  We posited that if the messages were condensed into two simple messages (fill half your plate with fruits and veggies; get 60 minutes of physical activity each day), families would retain the message and feel more confident in adopting healthy habits. To that end, SYF created the “Healthy Habits” campaign, using animated characters that encouraged parents to implement the campaign’s key messages. This campaign was adaptable to the various strategies utilized by the brand, including traditional media, non-traditional media, public relations, grantee support products and events on both a statewide and local level.  The award-winning campaign is fully integrated and has elements for television, radio, outdoor, social media, collateral and grantee items and many more communication pieces. The media buy had a statewide reach with a primary target of mothers and low-socioeconomic status families, with a secondary target of all adult Oklahomans (approximately 2.7 million people.) 

Evaluation Methods and Results:  A cross sectional survey was performed when the campaign initially launched and then 1 year later. The survey reached 1,030 Oklahoma adults with children in the home. Households with a yearly income less than $35,000 were oversampled to ensure representation, as they were a key target population for the media campaign. Comparisons from June 2014 to June 2015

• More Oklahomans recognize that half their plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables (55.3% vs. 48.5%).
• More Oklahomans say that eating habits learned in childhood say with a person throughout their lifetime (93.9% vs. 84.7%).
• More Oklahomans make sure their family fills half their plates with fruits and vegetables in 2015 than in 2014 (79.0% vs. 59.9%).
• More Oklahomans recognize that kids should get 60 minutes of PA per day (76.5% vs. 44.6%).
• More Oklahomans believe that physical activity habits learned in childhood stay with a person throughout their lifetime (95.6% vs. 86.9%).
• More Oklahomans are exercising 4 or more times per week (53.4% vs. 43.0%). 

Conclusions:  Simple messages that promoted easy, healthy changes were effective in getting parents to make healthier choices when it came to fruit and vegetable consumption. Simple messaging about 60 minutes of activity per day also resonated with parents. The addition of physical activity into daily routines can be a more difficult change to make so additional messaging and resources on easy ways to add activity into your existing routine was added to various communications. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  When attempting to alter large-scale societal issues like poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles, concise, focused messaging helps families retain knowledge and affect future behavior.