Effects of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education Campaign on Campaign Awareness,Message Recall,and Behavior

Abstract

Obesity is linked to high morbidity and mortality and is particularly prevalent in the southeastern United States. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education (SNAP-Ed), funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides nutrition education and obesity-prevention programs for individuals who qualify for nutrition assistance programs. This evaluation examines the effect of a statewide SNAP-Ed multimedia social marketing campaign in the southeastern United States on campaign awareness, message recall, and behavioral outcomes. The evaluation employed a cross-sectional design using a survey of the priority population. Participants included SNAP-eligible individuals (n = 671) meeting an income threshold and reporting children under 18 years of age living in the household. Compared to participants who were not aware of the campaign, participants who were aware of the campaign reported more frequent fruit and vegetable consumption and more physical activity, and Mann–Whitney tests of these differences were statistically significant. Mann–Whitney tests also demonstrated that recall of nutrition-related campaign messages (such as “cook healthy meals at home”) was significantly and positively associated with frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption. These results provide additional evidence that multimedia statewide SNAP-Ed social marketing campaigns are associated with changes in nutrition and physical activity. These findings have implications for others planning health education campaigns related to nutrition and physical activity; this multimedia social marketing campaign shows promise for shaping behavioral outcomes.