OBSERVATIONS - March 22, 2010

Lessons from Social Change Movements to Improve Odds for Let's Move Campaign

First Lady Michelle Obama recently unveiled a new initiative aimed at curbing childhood obesity within a generation. The Let’s Move campaign will focus on helping children live healthier lives by increasing access to healthy food in schools and communities, creating opportunities for regular physical activity, and empowering families with information they need to make healthy choices.

To accelerate action and garner commitment towards the First Lady’s ambitious objective, a collaboration of funders have come together to create a new independent foundation—the Partnership for a Healthier America—including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The California Endowment, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Alliance for Healthier Generation, Kaiser Permanente, and Nemours. The First Lady will serve as Honorary Chair of the new foundation. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/first-lady-michelle-obama-launches-lets-move-americas-move-raise-a-healthier-genera

Halting and reversing the childhood obesity epidemic calls for no less than a massive social change movement that alters policies, physical environments, and culturally-inherited values. Can this White House-led campaign make a serious dent against the powerful forces that drive the obesity epidemic? Listed below are 10 lessons learned from other social change campaigns that suggest it's more possible than it ever has been.

Lesson Learned
The Partnership to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living (PPHEAL) conducted a research investigation to understand the interrelated factors affecting dietary and physical activity behaviors. Part of the investigation sought to answer the question: What lessons have been learned from past attempts to affect social change? The PPHEAL working group assigned to this task looked at the following social change movements, many of which have been remarkably successful: tobacco control, auto restraint devices (including seatbelts and child car seats), recycling, breastfeeding, and international efforts in nutrition, physical activity, and obesity control. Results show that all of the social movements investigated shared the following 10 components:

Crisis — Each movement began with a dramatic revelation of a clear and life-threatening problem. Seminal events and/or key reports created a sense of urgency and built a commitment to collective action.
Science Base — Each movement relied on a scientific evidence base to back up its recommendations. Expertise from a wide range of disciplines supported the dangers or drawbacks associated with the targeted activity.
Economics — Each movement utilized economic tools or information to leverage its position. Examples include detailed cost-benefit analyses, economic incentives or disincentives, funding to develop solutions, or financial benefits that could accrue with the desired behavior change.
Sparkplugs — Each movement benefited from having charismatic individuals who assumed active leadership roles in promoting the movement’s agenda.
Coalition Building — Each movement was supported by active coalitions of individuals or groups representing diverse backgrounds, coming together to work toward common interests. Each movement also generated innovative grassroots initiatives.
Advocacy — Each movement engaged in strong advocacy, drawing on resources such as the media, grassroots constituents, volunteer organizations, and activist groups to promote the movement’s messages.
Government Involvement — Each movement strategically involved the government in changing social norms. Federal, state, and local governments were called upon to educate the public, create public safety laws, collect surveillance data, allocate funding, and more.
Mass Communication — Each movement effectively used mass communication to promote their health or social agendas. Positively framed messages were supported by scientific evidence that highlighted the need for social change.
Environment and Policy Change — Each movement relied on environmental and policy changes to initiate and sustain systematic changes in attitudes, behaviors, and underlying social structures. Monitoring systems and outcome reports were essential for evaluating impact.
Plan of Action — Each movement was supported by a plan of action that recognized that no single approach was as effective as multiple approaches working synergistically. The plans targeted all levels of government and society, and they were both comprehensive and flexible, while also maintaining a clear focus.
What Lessons Have Been Learned From Other Attempts to Guide Social Change?, Christina D. Economos, Ross C. Brownson, Michael A. DeAngelis, Susan B. Foerster, Carol Tucker Foreman, Jennifer Gregson, Shiriki K. Kumanyika, Russell R. Pate, Nutrition Reviews, Volume 59, Issue 3 , Pages S40 - S56, 2001

The good news is that all of the key components above are already in play -- to varying degrees -- in the battle against childhood obesity. But while previous social change movements benefited from having clear solutions -- such as using seatbelts, recycling, or smoking cessation -- a single, straightforward solution to childhood obesity does not exist. Giving children better access to healthy food and physical activity involves environmental and policy change and cannot be done in isolation by any one organization, sector, or government agency.

The challenge for the First Lady and the Partnership for a Healthier America will be to accelerate, coordinate, and bring to scale the many existing initiatives that address related yet diverse goals. That remains a daunting challenge, but the insights gained from these earlier social change campaigns provide good reasons to believe that positive, societal level change in children’s eating and physical activity behaviors is achievable.

- Brian Raymond, Senior Policy Consultant, KP-IHP

past issues

November 10, 2009 - New Study Reveals Greater Complexity Among Medicaid’s High-Cost Patients

November 6, 2009 - Getting Physical With Health Reform

October 12, 2009 - Can Your Doctor Trust Your Electronic Health Data?

August 11, 2009 - Low-Cost, High-Quality Health Care in America - How Do They Do That?

June 17, 2009 - Meaningful Use of Health IT

May 14, 2009 - Just Tell Me: How Thick is the Ice?

April 21, 2009 - Achieving a Healthier Food System: A Wicked Problem

January 29, 2009 - Gathering Support for Health Federal Transportation Policy