Healthy Eating Campaign Targets Mothers of Young Children

A new social marketing campaign launched by NC State’s SNAP-Ed Steps to Health program aims to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income mothers of young children.

TV, radio, billboard, digital and social media ads target 10 southeastern North Carolina counties — Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Sampson and Wayne — with the tagline ‘They learn from watching you. Eat fruits and veggies and your kids will too.’

“Social marketing promotes healthy messages and behaviors, compared to traditional marketing of products and services that we’re regularly exposed to,” said Gretchen Hofing, Steps to Health program coordinator in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences. “Mothers have a tremendous amount of influence on their children’s behavior. Our campaign highlights that their children learn from watching them.”

The campaign was developed using messages tested by the United States Department of Agriculture, followed by focus groups and interviews of women in the targeted counties.

“Since mothers tend to be the primary food shoppers and meal preparers, they can change what food is available in the home and how it is offered and prepared for their children,” said Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, assistant professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences. “Healthy eating messages for mothers have the potential to influence what foods they consume, as well as positively change their children’s consumption of and attitudes about fruits and vegetables.”

View the TV commercials and digital ads here or visit the Steps to Health Facebook page.