TheLong Live KidsCampaign: Awareness of Campaign Messages

Abstract

Media interventions are one strategy used to promote physical activity, but little is known about their effectiveness with children. As part of a larger evaluation, the purpose of this study was to assess the short-term effect of a private industry sponsored media literacy campaign, Long Live Kids, aimed at children in Canada. Specifically, we investigated children's awareness of the campaign and its correlates. Using a cohort design, a national sample (N = 331, male = 171; mean age = 10.81, SD = 0.99) completed a telephone survey two weeks prior to the campaign release, and again 1 year later. Only 3% of the children were able to recall the Long Live Kids campaign unprompted and 57% had prompted recall. Logistic regression found family income (Wald χ(2) = 11.06, p < .05), and free-time physical activity (Wald χ(2) = 5.67, p < .01) significantly predicted campaign awareness. Active children (≥3 days/week) were twice as likely to have recalled the campaign compared with inactive children (<3 days/week), whereas children living in high-income households (>$60,000/yr) were between 3.5 to 5 times more likely to have campaign recall compared with children living in a low-income households (<$20,000/yr). These findings suggest that media campaigns developed by industry may have a role in promoting physical activity to children although our findings identified a knowledge gap between children living in high- and low-income households. Future research needs to examine how children become aware of such media campaigns and how this mediated information is being used by children.

Initial recall and understanding of a multimedia communication campaign to promote physical activity among tweens: A process evaluation study

“…After one year of the VERB campaign implementation, nearly 75% of tweens had unaided/aided recall of the campaign . Similarly, 60.4% of children reported unaided/aided recall of a PA communication campaign conducted among 9-12 year old children in Canada (Faulkner et al, 2011). It is noteworthy, however, that contrary to the measures used in the present study, the items assessing recall (unaided or aided) of the two latter campaigns included the name of the campaign.…”

“How do you Measure up?” Assumptions About “Obesity” and Health-Related Behaviors and Beliefs in two Australian “Obesity” Prevention Campaigns

“…Several researchers have addressed the efficacy of anti-"obesity" campaigns and their reception by target audiences (for example, Faulkner et al 2011, Lewis et al 2010, Puhl et al 2012, Walls et al 2011. Thus far, however, little academic research has been directed at the ways in which commercial research companies contribute to the decisions of government departments or agencies about health-related social marketing campaign initiatives, including those directed at "obesity" prevention and control.…”

Correlates of Initial Recall of a Multimedia Communication Campaign to Promote Physical Activity among Tweens: the WIXX Campaign

“…Indeed, tweens' recall of the WIXX advertising campaign was not significantly associated with levels of PA, screen time, weight status, and SES (although a nearly significant association was observed for income), suggesting equitable reach of the campaign. Moreover, the likelihood of recalling the WIXX ads was significantly associated with only two PA beliefs, suggesting that the WIXX campaign did not appear to reach only those more positively predisposed toward PA. For comparison purposes, it was reported that highly active kids and those showing higher SES were more likely to recall the VERB and the LLK campaigns during the first years of these campaigns implementation (Faulkner et al, 2011;Huhman et al, 2008). Although the exact explanation of this observation remains elusive, some interesting features of the campaign might be suggested.…”

“…In the context of the VERB campaign, it was observed that the more physically active youth, white girls, and youth having higher socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to recall the campaign during the first year of the campaign implementation . Similarly, active kids and those having higher SES were more likely to recall the Long Live Kids (LLK) campaign (Faulkner et al, 2011), suggesting that the initial reach of these two PA campaigns was not initially equally distributed into the target audience.…”

“…In the scientific literature, only a small number of studies investigated factors associated with the recall of communication campaigns conducted among children and youth (Faulkner, Kwan, MacNeill, & Brownrigg, 2011;Vallone, Allen, & Xiao, 2009). In the context of the VERB campaign, it was observed that the more physically active youth, white girls, and youth having higher socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to recall the campaign during the first year of the campaign implementation .…”