Health Communications & Marketing:

Obesity in the African American Community

Jasmine Hood

West Virginia University

Professor Hernandez

IMC 621
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Goals and Objectives

Adult and childhood obesity is a significant health problem in the United States. African

Americans are disproportionately affected by the condition and this campaign aims to combat this issue.

The long-term goal is to reduce the number of African American obesity cases and the short-term

objectives are to change the attitudes and behaviors of African American families concerning healthy food

decisions. These objectives will be approached by educating and encouraging 200 African American

parents in the Atlanta metropolitan area to adopt new behaviors that will immediately benefit the wellness

of their children, as well as create sustaining behaviors as they grow into adults.

Campaign Strategies and Tactics

The target determinants chosen to achieve these objectives are: Interpersonal and Community

constructs, Self-Efficacy, and Outcome Values/Expectancies. African American parents are the target

audience because their influence directly effects the decisions and behaviors of their children. According

to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “[s]tudies suggest that parental food preferences

directly influence and shape those of their children…It is suspected that this observation is not merely due

to the foods parents feed their children, but rather due to the preferences children develop through

exposure to foods that their parents prefer early in their lives” [ CITATION USD09 \l 1033 ].

The first strategy that will be implemented is a community “Garden Day” event that will be

sponsored by a local nursery or hardware store. Parents will be encouraged to bring their children out to

a designated green space within their neighborhood that will become a community garden. The purpose

of this event will be to introduce parents and children to healthy fruits and vegetables, allow parents to

interact with their children in discussing healthy foods, and allow parents to interact with each other to

support new food behaviors. This educational event will be promoted using First Lady Michelle Obama’s

“Kitchen Garden” as a role model for taking an active role in the food choices for the family. Families will

also be given seeds to take home and plant for themselves. The garden will address community

determinants by providing a garden that is accessible to local residents. The tactic of using Michelle
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Obama as a role model and getting the parents to interact during the event will promote positive

interpersonal acceptance of the new behavior amongst African American communities.

The next strategy will be to launch a national ad campaign in the leading African American

magazine publications and online destinations. This ad campaign will brand the idea of “starting a new

tradition” within the context of already important cultural traditions (i.e., family dinners, family reunions,

church activities, etc.). Each ad will highlight an African American family or community gathering, with

fresh fruits and vegetables being featured as the food of choice. Following the template of the Dioro

Approach, this strategy

is based in the philosophy that, in order for health projects…to be meaningful and

sustainable, they must actively support African [American] cultures to incorporate positive

cultural values, knowledge and practices. This project draws on and incorporates local

cultural symbols and meanings in order to promote and support positive change.

[ CITATION The00 \l 1033 ]

Incorporating established cultural practices would give African American parents a view of ways

to absorb new food choices into preexisting traditions. This tactic will improve interpersonal

constructs, as well as outcome values. By featuring models that look like the average African

American family, parents can relate to the cultural themes and be receptive to the message of a

new behavior. Outcome values will also be heightened by using models that are a realistic, but

healthy size. The children in the ads will appear to be enjoying the healthy foods along with the

adults. The positive image of children will trigger parents’ own desires to raise happy and healthy

children. Each parent targeted in the campaign will receive one free issue of a leading magazine

that contains one of the ads. They will also receive e-newsletters directing them to the online

sites that feature the ads.

The final strategy is to partner with a local supermarket to create a direct mail (DM) piece

that includes healthy cultural recipes and coupons. The DM piece will have pictures of the

healthy food choices and feature African American parents and children. The recipes will include
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alternative interpretations of traditional meals, along with fun kids recipes. The coupons will be

related to the ingredients necessary for the various featured recipes. There will also be a

corresponding URL that parents can go online to find additional recipes and learn about healthy

food decisions. This DM booklet will be mailed out to all 200 families. Visual aids will create a

sense of self-efficacy in parents to feel confident in providing new healthy food choices for their

family.

Conceptual Model

The concept model illustrates the steps theorized to help lead to an adoption of the new behavior.

The most important determinants are interpersonal support from peers and confident self-efficacy to

achieve the new health behavior. However, before these determinants are viewed positively they are first

influenced by a favorable change in the social and physical community environment and the promotion of

high-value in parental success, respectively. Affecting the community improves the individual’s

interpersonal constructs. Similarly, fostering a desire to be good parents empowers individuals and

creates a determination to protect their children’s health. These strategies all lead to adopting the new

health behavior of making healthy food decisions to help prevent obesity within the family.

Evaluation Plan
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The evaluation plan will include three types of evaluation – Process, Outcome, and Impact. Each

of these assessments will be conducted to measure the success of the campaign’s logistical execution

and the achievement of the proposed short- and long-term goals and objectives. Surveys will be

distributed by snail mail and email to the head of households of the 200 participating families. These

surveys will evaluate the change in attitude, perception, and actions regarding the new health behavior.

Usage data will be tracked from the partner supermarket to see if participants are redeeming the coupons

for healthier food choices. Aggregate data will be collected to calculate the number of visits to the linked

websites within the campaign. Success measurement is set at sixty percent or higher participation for

each strategy.
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References

The Communication Initiative Network. (2000, Jul 9). TURNING THE ORDINARY INTO THE
EXTRAORDINARY: The Green Pendelu and Maternal Health in Mali. The Drum Beat, 55. Retrieved on
September 11, 2009 from http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_55.html

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Childhood Obesity. Retrieved on September 14,
2009 from http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/