Key Messages in an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention: Are They Recalled and Do They Impact Children's Behaviour?

Carola Ray,Karen Campbell,Kylie D Hesketh

doi:10.3390/ijerph16091550

Abstract

Knowledge of the impact of health messages as an intervention strategy is sparse. The aim of this study was to explore recall and use of health behaviour messages among mothers, and whether recall is associated with child health behaviours. Intervention group data from the 15 months Melbourne Infant Feeding, Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT) were used (n = 127, children 4 months at commencement). Mothers recalled (unprompted then prompted) at 2 and 3.5 years post-intervention six key messages used in the program, and reported whether they had used them. Children’s food intake was measured by three days of 24-h recall; physical activity by accelerometers; and television viewing by parent report. Unprompted recall ranged between 1–56% across messages and follow-up points, and 37–90% for prompted recall. The most commonly recalled messages “tap into water”, “parents provide, kids decide” and “color every meal with fruit and veg” were also most commonly used. There were few associations between recall and children’s health behaviours. Given the association between recall and reported use, it is important to plan messages so they resonate well with the target group and its needs. Messages should be used as one of multiple strategies within health promotion programs.

Highlights

Childhood overweight and obesity represent a worldwide health issue [1], as they are connected in the short and long term to children’s physical, psychosocial, and social wellbeing [2,3]
The aim of this study is to examine the recall of the key messages, and mothers’ use of these, two and 3.5 years post intervention conclusion
At the two year follow-up the vast majority lived in a registered marriage or in de facto relationship (98%), 20.3% with a high school or lower education, 26.7% with trade/certificate, and 53.3% with an university degree

Summary

Introduction

Childhood overweight and obesity represent a worldwide health issue [1], as they are connected in the short and long term to children’s physical, psychosocial, and social wellbeing [2,3]. Parents play a key role in the formation of children’s health behaviours from birth [5]. This provides important rationale for obesity prevention interventions to focus on families with young children. The understanding of successful parent-focused strategies to prevent childhood obesity is sparse, even though several studies have been conducted [5,6,7,8,9]. The use of messages or slogans to influence or motivate parents to conduct health-promoting practices that will benefit their children have been reported in few studies [11,12]

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Discussion

Conclusion