Using Social Marketing to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity: The Need for Training Public Health Professionals

Abstract

The current public health workforce may not be prepared for the challenge of implementing social marketing programs, as there is only limited training on social marketing offered by schools of public health. Therefore, training programs for working public health professionals may be warranted. An inventory of current social marketing resources revealed a variety of conferences, journals, and World Wide Web sites that either include or are devoted to social marketing. However, a survey of public health professionals who have direct responsibility for social marketing programs indicates that they use these resources in only a limited fashion. Recommendations include marketing current training resources to increase their use by working professionals, expanding the number and location of training conferences, and exploring opportunities for distance education.