Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:58:46.718Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of a national mass media campaign in The Netherlands on the prevention of weight gain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Birgitte Wammes ,
Boudewijn Breedveld ,
Caspar Looman  and
Johannes Brug
Birgitte Wammes*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands
Boudewijn Breedveld
Affiliation:
Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands
Caspar Looman
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Johannes Brug
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective

A 5-year nationwide mass media campaign aimed at prevention of overweight was organised from 2002 onwards. The present study evaluates the first campaign, which was aimed primarily at increasing awareness of weight gain.

Design and subjects

Data were collected by telephone interview in four independent cross-sectional surveys among non-obese Dutch adults aged 25–35 years (total n = 1949) for statistical analyses. Awareness of personal body-weight status, overweight-related risk perceptions, attitudes towards weight-gain prevention, motivation to prevent weight gain and self-reported body mass index (BMI) were measured in each survey. Campaign exposure was assessed in the post-intervention surveys. To identify intervention effects over time multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used, adjusted for secular time effects and age.

Results

After the campaign about 65% of the respondents knew about the campaign. The campaign was associated with more positive attitudes towards the prevention of weight gain (β = 0.16; P ≤ 0.01) and higher self-reported BMI (β = 0.14; P ≤ 0.01).

Conclusions

The results suggest that the first campaign reached a large proportion of the population and initiated some positive change in attitudes, but did not achieve significant improvements in other determinants of weight-gain prevention among non-obese young adults.

Keywords

EvaluationMass media campaignPreventionWeight gain
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 8 , December 2005 , pp. 1250 - 1257
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

1Seidell, JC. Prevalence and time trends of obesity in Europe. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation 2002; 25(10): 816–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Visscher, TLS, Kromhout, D, Seidell, JC. Long-term and recent time trends in the prevalence of obesity among Dutch men and women. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2002; 26(9): 1218–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Visscher, TLS, Seidell, JC. The public health impact of obesity. Annual Review of Public Health 2001; 22: 355–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Mokdad, AH, Ford, ES, Bowman, BA, Dietz, WH, Vinicor, F, Bales, VS, et al. Prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and obesity-related health risk factors, 2001. Journal of the American Medical Association 2003; 289(1): 76–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Peeters, A, Barendregt, JJ, Willekens, F, Mackenbach, JP, Al Mamun, A, Bonneux, L. Obesity in adulthood and its consequences for life expectancy: a life-table analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine 2003; 138(1): 24–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Seidell, JC. The impact of obesity on health status–some implications for health care costs. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 1995; 19(Suppl. 6): S13–6.Google Scholar
7World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Technical Report Series No. 894. Geneva: WHO, 2000.Google Scholar
8Hill, JO, Wyatt, HR, Reed, GW, Peters, JC. Obesity and the environment: where do we go from here?. Science 2003; 299(5608): 853–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Blokstra, A, Burns, CM, Seidell, JC. Perception of weight status and dieting behaviour in Dutch men and women. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 1999; 23(1): 7–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Wardle, J, Johnson, F. Weight and dieting: examining levels of weight concern in British adults. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2002; 26(8): 1144–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Lechner, L, Brug, J, De Vries, H, Van Assema, P, Mudde, A. Stages of change for fruit, vegetable and fat intake: consequences of misconception. Health Education Research 1998; 13(1): 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Ronda, G, Van Assema, P, Brug, J. Stages of change, psychological factors and awareness of physical activity levels in The Netherlands. Health Promotion International 2001; 16(4): 305–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Ball, K, Brown, W, Crawford, D. Who does not gain weight? Prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance in young women. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2002; 26(12): 1570–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Ziebland, S, Robertson, J, Jay, J, Neil, A. Body image and weight change in middle age: a qualitative study. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2002; 26(8): 1083–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Ball, K, Crawford, D, Ireland, P, Hodge, A. Patterns and demographic predictors of 5-year weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort of men and women in Australia. Public Health Nutrition 2003; 6(3): 269–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Williamson, DF. Descriptive epidemiology of body-weight and weight change in United-States adults. Annals of Internal Medicine 1993; 119(7): 646–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Noel, PH, Pugh, JA. Management of overweight and obese adults. British Medical Journal 2002; 325(7367): 757–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Glenny, AM, O'Meara, S, Melville, A, Sheldon, TA, Wilson, C. The treatment and prevention of obesity: a systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 1997; 21(9): 715–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Randolph, W, Viswanath, K. Lessons learned from public health mass media campaigns: marketing health in a crowded media world. Annual Review of Public Health 2004; 25: 419–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Marcus, BH, Owen, N, Forsyth, LH, Cavill, NA, Fridinger, F. Physical activity interventions using mass media, print media, and information technology. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1998; 15(4): 362–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Flay, BR, Burton, D. Effective mass communication strategies for health campaigns. In: Mass Communication and Public Health: Complexities and Conflicts. London: Sage, 1990; 112–49.Google Scholar
22Reid, D. How effective is health education via mass communications?. Health Education Journal 1996; 55: 332–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Finnegan, JR Jr, Viswanath, K, Hertog, J. Mass media, secular trends, and the future of cardiovascular disease health promotion: an interpretive analysis. Preventive Medicine 1999; 29(6 Pt 2): S50–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Redman, S, Spencer, A, Sanson-Fisher, RW. The role of mass media in changing health-related behaviour: a critical appraisal of two models. Health Promotion International 1990; 5(1): 85–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Cavill, N, Bauman, A. Changing the way people think about health-enhancing physical activity: do mass media campaigns have a role?. Journal of Sports Science 2004; 22(8): 771–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Brug, J, Kremers, PJ, Wammes, BM, Oenema, A. Correlates of awareness of personal weight status. Submitted for publication.Google Scholar
27Connor, M, Norman, P. Predicting Health Behaviour. Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
28Weinstein, ND, Sandman, PM. A model of the precaution adoption process: evidence from home radon testing. Health Psychology 1992; 11(3): 170–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Nutbeam, D. Evaluating health promotion – progress, problems and solutions. Health Promotion International 1998; 13(1): 27–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Wellings, K, Macdowall, W. Evaluating mass media approaches to health promotion: a review of methods. Health Education 2000; 100(1): 23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Rowland, ML. Self-reported weight and height. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1990; 52(6): 1125–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Jeffery, RW. Bias in reported body weight as a function of education, occupation, health and weight concern. Addictive Behaviors 1996; 21(2): 217–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS). Statistisch Jaarboek. Voorburg: CBS, 2002.Google Scholar
34Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau (SCP). De Sociale Staat van Nederland 2003. Den Haag: SCP, 2003.Google Scholar
35Wardle, J, Rapoport, L, Miles, A, Afuape, T, Duman, M. Mass education for obesity prevention: the penetration of the BBC's ‘Fighting Fat, Fighting Fit’ campaign. Health Education Research 2001; 16(3): 343–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36Van der Feen de Lille, JC, Riedstra, M, Hardeman, W, Wedel, M, Brug, J, Pruyn, JF, et al. Fat Watch: a nationwide campaign in The Netherlands to reduce fat intake – process evaluations. Nutrition and Health 1998; 12(2): 107–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37Macaskill, P, Pierce, JP, Simpson, JM, Lyle, DM. Mass media-led antismoking campaign can remove the education gap in quitting behavior. American Journal of Public Health 1992; 82(1): 96–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38Silver, FL, Rubini, F, Black, D, Hodgson, CS. Advertising strategies to increase public knowledge of the warning signs of stroke. Stroke 2003; 34(8): 1965–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39Samuels, SE. Project LEAN – lessons learned from a national social marketing campaign. Public Health Reports 1993; 108(1): 45–53.Google ScholarPubMed
40Yanovski, JA, Yanovski, SZ, Sovik, KN, Nguyen, TT, O'Neil, PM, Sebring, NG. A prospective study of holiday weight gain. New England Journal of Medicine 2000; 342(12): 861–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41Wammes, B, Kremers, S, Breedveld, B, Brug, J. Correlates of motivation to prevent weight gain: a cross sectional survey. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2005; 2: 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42Mokhtar, N, Elati, J, Chabir, R, Bour, A, Elkari, K, Schlossman, NP, et al. Diet culture and obesity in northern Africa. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131(3): 887S–92S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed