Impact of the California Project LEAN School Board Member Social Marketing Campaign

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight youth in the United States has increased remarkably over the last two decades. Overweight and obese youth are at elevated risk for chronic diseases and other adverse health conditions. The foods and beverages that youth access at school (e.g., in a la carte food lines, in vending machines, and in school stores) contribute to overweight and obesity. Enacting policy to ban or restrict unhealthy food and beverage products at school can play a role in managing the epidemic of obesity. School board members are, therefore, a priority audience for introducing healthier food and beverage alternatives through articulation of specific policy initiatives. Under the leadership of California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition), a social marketing campaign was directed at California school board members to motivate them to advance nutrition-related policy issues at school board meetings, and to enact and enforce school policies that support healthy eating. In less than two years after implementing the campaign, a significant increase in nutrition-related issues on school board meeting agendas occurred, more favorable nutrition-related policies became enacted, and school board members reported greater readiness to support school nutrition-related issues. Details of campaign development, implementation, and impact are reported.

Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors of Middle School Youth: The Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey*

“…In the current study, more middle school youth consumed 2 or more sodas per day during the past week (26.0%) than the percentage of youth meeting daily dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake (22.8%) and for milk consumption (21.9%). Discouraging soft drink consumption through school board advocacy initiatives 19,20 and through modification of the school environment 20,21 has been the subject of recent literature. Such considerations seem relevant here for school personnel, given the current findings.…”

Eating for the better: a social marketing review (2000–2012)

“…1). Of these studies only one (20) listed Andreasen's criteria (9) . Of the remaining studies, sixteen targeted children (aged up to 11 years) in school and child-care settings, three targeted adolescents (aged 11-19 years), seven targeted adults, two targeted the elderly (aged $55 years) and six targeted communities.…”

“…Those who did examine or recognize competition viewed it from the perspective of competing health programmes (37) ; competing unhealthy foods (35) or unhealthy drinks (23) ; or competing demands (20) . Another example of a type of competitive analysis comes from the ANGELO framework where researchers looked at the environment to determine what is available and what is not available both in terms of foods (too many high-fat snacks available, mainly high-fat, low-vegetable meals, too many high-sugar drinks at home, junk food for lunchboxes) and the economic, policy and sociocultural influences present (43) .…”

School Wellness Policies: Perceptions, Barriers, and Needs Among School Leaders and Wellness Advocates*

“…State school boards' associations are seen as credible providers of policy expertise, whereas local and state health departments are seen as content experts on wellness‐related issues. The campaign employed an intervention strategy that included policy tools and trainings, community mobilization, and marketing and communication strategies and materials 7 . An important outcome of their work was the publication, Student Wellness: A Healthy Food and Physical Activity Policy Resource Guide 8 for school board members and administrators.…”