ADVANCING
EFFECTIVE
OBESITY
COMMUNICATIONS
PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP
Emily A. Callahan, Rapporteur
Roundtable on Obesity Solutions
Food and Nutrition Board
Health and Medicine Division
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported in part by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Alliance for a Healthier Generation; American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Sports Medicine; American Council on Exercise; American Society for Nutrition; Banner Health; Bipartisan Policy Center; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation; The California Endowment; ChildObesity180/Tufts University; Edelman; General Mills, Inc.; Greater Rochester Health Foundation; HealthPartners; The JPB Foundation; The Kresge Foundation; Mars, Inc.; National Recreation and Park Association; Nemours; Nestlé Nutrition; Novo Nordisk; Obesity Action Coalition; The Obesity Society; Partnership for a Healthier America; Reebok International; Reinvestment Fund; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; SHAPE America; Society of Behavioral Medicine; Wake Forest Medical Center; WW International, Inc.; and YMCA of the USA. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-49552-3
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-49552-0
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25522
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Copyright 2020 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Advancing effective obesity communications: Proceedings of a workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25522.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCING EFFECTIVE OBESITY COMMUNICATIONS1
SYLVIA ROWE (Chair), President, SR Strategy
CAROL BYRD-BREDBENNER, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Program Director, Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program, Rutgers University
ADELAIDE FEUER, Executive Vice President, Edelman
SUZANNE GATES, Communications Team Lead, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
MEGAN NECHANICKY, Nutrition Manager, General Mills Canada
KEVIN R. RONNEBERG, Vice President and Associate Medical Director, HealthPartners
DIETRAM A. SCHEUFELE, Taylor-Bascom Chair in Science Communication and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Morgridge Institute for Research
LIZ SKRBKOVA, Associate Director, U.S. Obesity Communications, Novo Nordisk
Health and Medicine Division Staff
LESLIE J. SIM, Roundtable Director
HEATHER DEL VALLE COOK, Senior Program Officer
AMANDA NGUYEN, Associate Program Officer
MEREDITH YOUNG, Research Associate
CYPRESS LYNX, Senior Program Assistant
___________________
1 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s planning committees are solely responsible for organizing the workshop, identifying topics, and choosing speakers. The responsibility for the published Proceedings of a Workshop rests with the workshop rapporteur and the institution.
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ROUNDTABLE ON OBESITY SOLUTIONS1
NICOLAAS (NICO) PRONK (Chair), HealthPartners Institute and HealthPartners, Bloomington, Minnesota
CHRISTINA ECONOMOS (Vice Chair), Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
IHUOMA ENELI (Vice Chair), American Academy of Pediatrics, Columbus, Ohio
SHARON ADAMS-TAYLOR, The School Superintendents Association, Alexandria, Virginia
KATIE ADAMSON, YMCA of the USA, Washington, DC
JAMY D. ARD, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
DANIELLE BERMAN, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
ROBIN P. BLACKSTONE, University of Arizona, Phoenix
CAPT HEIDI MICHELS BLANCK, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
JEANNE BLANKENSHIP, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Washington, DC
SARA N. BLEICH, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
DON W. BRADLEY, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
HEIDI F. BURKE, Greater Rochester Health Foundation, Rochester, New York
JAMIE BUSSEL, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
DEBBIE I. CHANG, Nemours, Newark, Delaware
ANNE DATTILO, Nestlé Nutrition, Florham Park, New Jersey
MERRY DAVIS, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Durham, North Carolina
JENNIFER FASSBENDER, Reinvestment Fund, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
GARY FOSTER, WW International, Inc., New York, New York
DAVID D. FUKUZAWA, The Kresge Foundation, Troy, Michigan
MARJORIE INNOCENT, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Baltimore, Maryland
JOHN JAKICIC, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
SCOTT I. KAHAN, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
PETER T. KATZMARZYK, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
CATHERINE KWIK-URIBE, Mars, Inc., Germantown, Maryland
THEODORE KYLE, The Obesity Society, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
___________________
1 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s forums and roundtables do not issue, review, or approve individual documents. The responsibility for the published Proceedings of a Workshop rests with the workshop rapporteur and the institution.
LISEL LOY, Bipartisan Policy Center, Washington, DC
KELLIE MAY, National Recreation and Park Association, Ashburn, Virginia
MYETA M. MOON, United Way Worldwide, Alexandria, Virginia
STEPHANIE A. MORRIS, SHAPE America, Reston, Virginia
JOSEPH NADGLOWSKI, Obesity Action Coalition, Tampa, Florida
MELISSA NAPOLITANO, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
MEGAN NECHANICKY, General Mills Canada, Minneapolis, Minnesota
BARBARA PICOWER, The JPB Foundation, New York, New York
SUE PECHILIO POLIS, National League of Cities, Washington, DC
AMELIE G. RAMIREZ, Salud America!, San Antonio, Texas
TOM RICHARDS, American Council on Exercise, San Diego, California
NANCY ROMAN, Partnership for a Healthier America, Washington, DC
KEVIN R. RONNEBERG, HealthPartners, Minneapolis, Minnesota
SYLVIA ROWE, SR Strategy, Washington, DC
MARION STANDISH, The California Endowment, Oakland, California
LAURIE STRADLEY, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Asheville, North Carolina
KATHLEEN TULLIE, Reebok International, Canton, Massachusetts
SUSAN Z. YANOVSKI, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
TRACY ZVENYACH, Novo Nordisk, Washington, DC
Health and Medicine Division Staff
LESLIE J. SIM, Roundtable Director
HEATHER DEL VALLE COOK, Senior Program Officer
AMANDA NGUYEN, Associate Program Officer
MEREDITH YOUNG, Research Associate
CYPRESS LYNX, Senior Program Assistant
ANN L. YAKTINE, Food and Nutrition Board Director
Food and Nutrition Board Liaison
SHIRIKI KUMANYIKA, Drexel University
Consultant
WILLIAM (BILL) H. DIETZ, The George Washington University
Reviewers
This Proceedings of a Workshop was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by CHERYL ANDERSON, University of California, San Diego. She was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteur and the National Academies.
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Contents
Organization of This Proceedings
2 OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE COMMUNICATIONS ENVIRONMENT
A Communications Agency Perspective
The Communications Revolution and Equity: Implications for Obesity-Related Communications
3 WHAT IS WORKING AND WHAT IS CHALLENGING IN THE OBESITY SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATIONS LANDSCAPE
A Patient Perspective: Cutting Through the Noise
Countering Bias in Depiction and Discourse
Communicating with Decision Maker and Policy Maker Audiences
Communication in Context: Mental Models, Salience, and Competing Information About Obesity
4 LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: POTENTIAL FOCUS AREAS FOR COMMUNICATIONS OF OBESITY SOLUTIONS
Effective Treatment Messaging: Staying in Touch with People Affected by Obesity
MarketVision: A Hispanic Perspective on Obesity Solutions
Messaging to Local, State, and National Policy Makers
5 REFLECTIONS ON ADVANCING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION OF OBESITY SOLUTIONS
Opening Remarks: Reflections, Themes, and Future Directions
Panel Discussion: Reflections, Themes, and Future Directions
C Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers and Planning Committee Members
