Background:
Mass media campaigns can positively influence health behaviours. The LiveLighter campaign graphically illustrates negative health effects of overweight and recommends alternatives to obesogenic behaviours. It was developed and launched in Western Australia (WA) in 2012 and launched in Victoria in 2014.
Methods:
The WA evaluation employed a pre-post design, with cross-sectional tracking surveys (n~1,000) across three Phases of the campaign: ‘Toxic fat’, ‘Sugary Drinks’ and ‘Junk food’. The Victorian evaluation employed a pre-post evaluation design with a control group (South Australia) for Phases one and two (n~700 per condition per survey).
Results:
Phase one was associated with increased knowledge of the health consequences of overweight in WA (63% cf. 71%; p<0.05) and Victoria (56% cf. 76%; p<0.05). Following Phase two, the message about reducing sugary drink consumption impacted frequent consumers in WA (4+ times/wk: 22% cf. 16%; p<0.05) and Victoria (4+ cups/wk: 31% cf. 22%; p<0.01), and overweight weekly consumers in WA (1+/wk: 56% cf. 48%; p<0.05). In WA, cross-sectional trends also show consumption of sugary drinks (1+/wk: 60% cf. 46%; p<0.001) and fast food (1+/wk: 62% cf. 54%; p<0.05) have reduced since the campaign launched. Phase three showed increased public support in WA for improving nutritional disclosure on food packaging (84% cf. 89%; p<0.05) and menu boards (87% cf. 91%; p<0.05), and a tax on soft drinks (72% cf. 79%; p<0.05).
Conclusions:
The first phase of LiveLighter set the agenda and succeeded in promoting awareness and motivation for achieving a healthy weight and lifestyle. The second phase showed evidence of behaviour change with reduced SSB consumption. At Phase three LiveLighter was associated with increased support for public policies favourable to reducing obesity. Overall, LiveLighter delivers a comprehensive program with advertising aired at sufficient intensity to achieve change.