LET’S MOVE!

A Campaign Evaluation

MARIAN RIOS

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WHAT IS IT?

“For the first time in our history, the United States is raising a generation of children who may live

sicker, shorter lives than their parents.” (Obama, M. 2010).

Today, studies show that one in three children in the United States are obese. This means that by

the time they reach adulthood, and when this lifestyle continues on, they will have higher chances

of suffering from diabetes, heart diseases, high blood pressure, and other chronic obesity- related

health problems.

The Let’s Move campaign, which was launched in February 2010, is a nationwide initiative by First

Lady Michelle Obama. It is a health campaign in America that is working towards the prevention of

childhood obesity in the United States. By teaching these kids of today’s generation the necessary

skills for them be healthy, they will grow to live a healthy and active lifestyle. The campaign’s

mission is simple and direct to the point- for the kids to eat healthier and to be more active.

TARGET AUDIENCE

People would think that if it is an anti obesity campaign for children, then the target audience

would only be these kids. But let us not forget the other important people who would help and

provide these kids live a healthy lifestyle

The primary audience of this campaign would be children in the United States. They are the

primary audience of this campaign because as abovementioned, studies show that obesity in

American children is very rampant, and this needs to be addressed right away.

The secondary audience of the campaign would be the parents, schools, community leaders,

elected officials, schools, and chefs. The campaign uses a holistic approach in fighting obesity and

the secondary audience is crucial in helping the children. These parents, chefs and the like are

important in communicating the mission of the campaign to these kids.

OBJECTIVES

The Let’s Move campaign has four primary objectives:

1) To educate parents in making healthy choices;

2) To provide quality and healthier food in schools;

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3) To improve access to healthy affordable food;

4) And to increase physical activity among children.

The Let’s Move campaign as mentioned earlier takes a holistic approach towards fighting obesity

and the campaign’s objectives truly embody this aim by providing realistic solutions to problems.

After all, what good would a campaign do if it not feasible? For the first objective, it is crucial to

include the parents in this campaign by educating them in making healthy choices. By giving these

parents the information and the tools they need to provide healthy food for their family, then it is a

step to fighting childhood obesity. The second is that, since kids are eating in schools, and more

than half of their daily calorie intake comes from the cafeteria, then it is also important to improve

the quality of the food kids are eating in school’s cafeteria. There are a lot of communities wherein

quality food is limited and so by improving the affordability and accessibility of healthier food then

obesity can be stopped. The Let’s Move campaign not only promotes healthy eating among kids

but also encourages them to move and increase their physical activity daily.

The objectives of this campaign, again, are very holistic in the sense that it not only provides

healthy food to children, but it also takes into consideration educating parents as well. It also

covers all sides that can lead children to obesity- such as the food they eat in school, the

accessibility of eating healthy, and the exercise they need.

And so, with these objectives, and target audience in mind, the next step would be executing the

campaign.

METHODS

Programs

The Let’s Move campaign has numerous programs in mobilizing different sectors to get them

active in fighting childhood obesity. These programs are all in collaboration with the secondary

target audience mentioned and the role they can provide in making the changes to fight obesity.

There are eight programs being implement and these are some:

Let’s Move Cities, Town, and Countries- a program to encourage mayors to adopt the four

objectives in their respective communities to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

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Chefs Move to Schools- a program wherein one chef will adopt a school and teach parents, school

nutritionists, and teachers the recipes to healthier meals that they can incorporate in school

cafeteria menus.

Let’s Move Outside- a program in collaboration with the Department of Interior, wherein kids and

their families are encouraged to exercise and do healthy outdoor activities in the fifty national

parks across the country.

These are just some of the programs being implement by the Let’s Move campaign. It is evident

that campaign does not only have clear-cut objectives to fight obesity but also has concrete

solutions to back those up. And again, all these take a holistic approach.

Social Media

The campaign also has social media to add to their tactics. Aside from their website, Let’s Move

also has a Facebook fan page which has almost 90,000 likes and a YouTube account which has

more than 600,000 views.

Their social media accounts are very commendable because since the campaign’s birth, the

Facebook and YouTube accounts has been very active as well. The Facebook page has daily

updates and it also generates numerous likes and comments & healthy discussions. As for their

YouTube account, it is also very active with uploads regarding how to eat healthy, how to be active

and also public service announcements. The YouTube account is also interactive in the sense that

there are numerous video uploads entitled “Ask the First Lady”, wherein First Lady Michelle

Obama sits down and answers questions from the Let’s Move online audience from their official

website.

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Celebrity & Athlete Endorsements

Aside from their social media, the campaign also has celebrity and athlete endorsements and

collaborations One celebrity endorser that is very active is Beyonce who made a full workout

routine video entitled “Move Your Body.” The campaign also has endorsements from Major

League Baseball players.

These endorsements are very useful because these are the opinion leaders and the people the

children look up to. It is important to include these people because they embody what it is like to

be fit and healthy.

Results

As compared to the Kony 2012, the Let’s Move campaign has transparent results. In their official

website, there is a tab wherein they put all the accomplishment the campaign has achieved

throughout it’s running. These achievements involve a law for kids to have more access to a

healthy lunch, more and more schools are signing up to the campaign to help students to get

active.

Showing results of a campaign is very important to show the audience that the campaign is doing

good and their cause is relevant. Unlike the Kony 2012, which failed to show transparent results,

the Let’s Move campaign was able to relay their accomplishments to the audience to ensure and

maintain trust and confidence from them.

OVERALL

Overall, the Let’s Move campaign has proved a lot of people wrong that their aim was very

ambitious. Through their take in a holistic approach the campaign was able to fulfill and continue

on in their objectives to fight poverty.

Just like what I have learned in CAMPAIN, feedback, collaboration from different sectors, and

transferring the activities to communities are very important. And the Let’s Move campaign was

able to execute those well. And after two years of implementing the campaign, they still live up to

their objectives and mission. That I think is the most important of all, to stay to the vision of the

campaign and not losing control of it.