OBJECTIVE/BRIEF

The Annual Update of Key Results 2014/15: New Zealand Health Survey found that both adult and child obesity rates in New Zealand are increasing: 31 percent of adults and 11 percent of children (aged 2-14 years) are now obese. New Zealand’s Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Health, Jonathan Coleman declared that “being overweight or obese is expected to overtake tobacco as the leading preventable risk to health in New Zealand within the next 12 months”. While the child obesity rate has not changed significantly since 2011/12, it has increased by three percent since 2006/7.

The Childhood Obesity Plan, launched by the NZ Government in late 2015, aims to prevent and manage obesity in children and young people up to 18 years of age. The plan comprises 22 initiatives involving multiple government and private sector agencies, communities, schools and families, and focuses on three areas:

1. Targeted interventions for those who are obese;
2. Increased support for those at risk of becoming obese; and
3. Broad approaches to make healthier choices easier for all New Zealanders.

One of the first initiatives was Big Change Starts Small, a multimedia advertising campaign spearheaded by the Health Promotions Agency (HPA) to raise awareness and generate conversations about childhood obesity. Running for six weeks in late 2015, the campaign consisted of television, radio, digital, and outdoor advertisements, and a website, and was supported by five high-profile athletes. The advertisements focused on the role of food in families (encouraging parents and families to think about the quantity and quality of food they give their children) and inactivity (suggesting that children were spending too much time on sedentary activities, such as playing video games), while the website provided information on affordable meals and ideas for family activities.

Isentia was approached by the HPA’s creative agency, Y&R New Zealand, to:

• Analyse how obesity, particularly childhood obesity, was discussed in traditional and social media;
• Measure the effectiveness of the campaign in increasing discussions on obesity; and
• Identify the key commentators and influencers in discussions about obesity.

STRATEGY

Given that the Big Change Starts Small campaign was part of a wider government strategy, the length of the report period covered both the minister’s announcement of the Childhood Obesity Plan and the duration of the campaign itself. Initially, Y&R wanted to demonstrate to the HPA that the campaign had increased the volume of social media mentions of obesity.

Our recommendation was that beyond quantitative measures they utilise a full qualitative analysis of both traditional and social media, as we have found that social and traditional media interact significantly when there is a ministerial or government policy announcement launching a campaign.

Given the complexity of the issue, and the overarching objective to create social change, it was important that the project should evaluate how obesity is discussed in traditional and social media generally. As behaviour change takes time, this project was designed to assess the impact of the campaign in creating conversations about obesity, rather than the campaign itself. The most effective way to evaluate any change in conversations and potential change in behaviour, is to use qualitative media analysis techniques.

Isentia analysed both traditional and social media coverage (including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and forums) to assess reception of the announcement, the campaign, as well as to evaluate the campaign’s impact on discussions of childhood obesity and its effectiveness in increasing awareness of the issue.

EXECUTION/IMPLEMENTATION

Editorial and social media coverage was gathered from two proprietary databases, using both Isentia’s standard approach of collecting content through keyword matching and the selection of media reports from within a pool of wider content using set criteria. This included mentions of:

• The campaign by name;
• The campaign’s assets, including the ambassadors (by name) and the website www.eatmovelive.co.nz
  The Childhood Obesity Plan;
• Obesity and/or related health issues, particularly affecting children;
• Exercise and/or lifestyle-related activities, particularly involving children or in a family context; and
• Food and food consumption, particularly involving children or in a family context.

This ensured that coverage was not limited to Big Change Starts Small-specific discussions, as the campaign was focused on increasing awareness and conversations about childhood obesity in general.

Research Framework
Once the relevant media reports had been identified, all content was subjected to an in-depth qualitative media analysis using the CARMA methodology. A customised coding framework was developed and tracked appearances of:

• The campaign and associated aspects (including campaign advertisements, ambassadors and messages);
• The Childhood Obesity Plan;
• Key stakeholders; and
• General comments or discussion about obesity and obesity-related issues.

The project tracked messages communicated by the campaign, messages about the campaign and the government’s approach to childhood obesity, as well as more general messages about obesity.

Messages were also tracked to identify where social media commentators and journalists positioned responsibility for childhood obesity (with the government, communities, parents, extended families).

Additionally, Isentia requested Y&R to supply its schedule of campaign activities. The project’s breakdown of coverage was subsequently aligned with this schedule, enabling Isentia to directly track and assess the impact of and reaction to each of the activities.