Government anti-obesity campaign ‘less effective than expected’
The effectiveness of the federal government’s ‘Swap It Don’t Stop It’ anti-obesity campaign featuring Eric the balloon man has come under scrutiny today.
The campaign, which urged Australians to ‘lose their bellies without missing out on the things they love’ when it launched in March last year, has prompted 14% of the target group to ‘be a swapper’ and adopt healthier living practices, according to a report covered in the Sun-Herald.
The story, headlined ‘Obesity campaign on the thin side’, reported that the campaign had had a lower impact on the 25 to 65 target group than expected in terms of cut-through and reach. However, the article was not clear on what the campaign’s objectives were.
One quote from the story labeled the campaign a ‘band aid’ solution to Australia’s obesity problem, while another said that it focused on ‘superficial actions’ that skirted the real causes of obesity.
It all makes sense:
http://www.theage.com.au/opini.....-omsa.html
Well duh. Every one of these campaigns is doomed to fail.
Back in the old days when the most exciting thing you could give a kid was an apple, obesity barely rated on the scale of problems. Until 90% of the processed crap that exists on supermarket shelves is removed from sale, we’ll continue to have obesity. If the crap food doesn’t exist, and everyone was forced to prepare and eat fresh food because there was simply no other option, then no one would be fat. Simple as that (but then all those corporations making money off our ever fattening population wouldn’t exist, which is why our capitalist-loving governments would never go for it). Fat shaming, dietary advice, government campaigns, fat taxes… NONE of it works, obviously. I think that’s been well and truly proven over and over again.
Thank you for ur help love !!!! ?????
A better campaign would be compulsory fat camps and surprise food raids.
aka. No more Mr Nice Guy (or Ms Nice Girl)
bring back norm. Life. Be. In. It.
Maybe the release should have said ‘a number of large Australians…’
@Kia, very well said.
Ban junk food advertising.
Reduce processed foods in supermarkets.
Colour code foods on supermarket shelves
Promote fruit and veggies.
Get celeb’s acting. Libby Trickett should be ashamed of her self endorsing Kentucky FRIED Chicken as should the Aussie Cricket team. Shame Warne – what a sellout. Beckham is being put under pressure for his affiliation with Pepsi. The movement against high sugar and processed foods has begun. It is just a matter of time. Get celeb’s promoting healthy foods and frowning on junk foods.
The biggest farce is the promotion of energy and sports drinks. I see fat little kiddies with cheeks like hamsters walking down the road, drinking Powerade – unbelievable! Water and a banana can be way more efficient for an athlete anyway?
Ad world who promotes junk food and sugar drinks should take a deep hard look at themselves also: you are a very large factor and reason for the obesity levels we see today oh marketeers.
I will await somebody to comment that people have a choice and therefore marketing does not influence their purchase and the obesity epidemic. To which I will say now: What a load of fckin sh1te.
Well well well. I must be very careful here, because I wrote to them when the campaign first started, pointing out the reasons why it would fail entirely.
I was wrong, it did have a tiny measure of success, I thought it would have none.
The entire premise is wrong. You cannot get rid of any bad habit without stopping it. Tell a fat person that they can lose weight without stopping something and you are talking waffle.
Problem Two: swap what for what? Not only are human beings being asked to relate to a balloon, they are being shown balloon food swapped for smaller balloon food. A man who eats four eggs and four pork chops for dinner with chips and peas, thinks he can cut down to three eggs, three chops, chips and no peas and be on the road to slimness.
Rubbish! He is eating too much and he must STOP eating too much.
Beers Monday to Sunday and he cuts out Monday is too many beers. Walking the balloon dog or watching the kids run around and retrieve the ball you just kicked is not exercise.
Formula: Stop eating too much, start eating less than is required to maintain weight given chosen regular exercise. This must be pre calculated by experts in nutrition and medicine.
For nearly 30 years, I smoked 60 cigarettes per day, along with 5 half corona cigars, and a pipe after dinner. I was such a proficient smoker, that I used to get fan mail from Turkey.
Nearly 10 years ago, I stopped smoking with only 14 days of great difficulty, and I will never smoke again. How did I do it? I stopped smoking.
A better health campaign is better than no health campaign, but I personally think the balloon people are patronising.
Ads with simple stretches at bus stops, healthy meal ideas near shopping centers or simple exercises on ad breaks may prove to be a more proactive and intelligible measure.
Junk food advertising bans and fat taxes will unnecessarily lead the manifestation of a nanny state.
Don’t make supermarket trolleys the size of a small Korean car and allow people to wander through 24 aisles of Coles buying incredibly cheap salt/sugar ladened crap. And agree, a lot of stuff promoted as “healthy” is often nutritiously appalling. See: breakfast cereals, museli bars, flavoured yoghurts, sports drinks, microwave meals, canned soups, white rice and bread, etc, etc….
On their own, these campaigns are doomed to fail – because they’re all carrot and no stick.
First they need to be part of a cohesive plan backed by brave policy. Like the Danish government’s brilliant new ‘fat tax’ which hits high saturated foods hard at retail, then kicks serious kroner back in to subsidising fruit & veg. Or New York mayor Bloomberg’s ban on large volume high-sugar drinks.
And make taking responsibility for one’s health – and the later life burden on the community – part of childrens’ fundamental learning. Like part of the Ethics in Schools programme.
Until the basic architecture is in place, campaigns like this are just same old, same old of government agencies going through the motions of being seen to be doing the right thing.
@ Brent. Very well said sir!