Let's be realistic about losing weight in America...

Over the past two years the AdCouncil, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, initiated a public service announcement series focusing upon obesity prevention and weight loss (AdCouncil, 2007). This announcement is distributed to the media by commercials, websites, and newsletters. However, the most predominant form of media they are using to try and change attitudes towards preventing obesity is through television advertisements. The premise behind this initiative is a list of “100 Small Steps” that can be taken to change the behavior and attitudes of overweight adults and children so that they may adopt healthy behaviors (AdCouncil, 2007). The focus of these behavioral changes surrounds goals such as reducing portion size, increasing physical activities, and eating a healthful diet on a regular basis.

Some of the approaches this campaign uses to change attitudes are to make losing weight and reducing obesity seem very easy to obtain by taking small steps. Some examples of the small steps they recommend include walking more by parking further from your destination, taking the stairs instead of an elevator, putting fast food dinners on a plate so that the true portion size is apparent, using spices instead of salt, walking the kids to school, and having fat-free milk products instead of creams (AdCouncil, 2007).

This campaign uses approaches such as using the media to influence thoughts by making the topic of obesity an availability heuristic by frequent short media commercials ( Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 173). By keeping the ideas short, simplistic, and frequent, those exposed to the commercials may be more likely to recall the content and place importance on the approach to attitude change by taking the small steps described by the AdCouncil. This public service advertisement attempts to change attitudes by framing obesity in a negative light while making commentary in the commercials that suggests that everybody is losing weight by taking small steps.

This approach to attitude change used in the Small Steps advertisement is supported by social psychological research in that the exposure to the solutions and the upbeat tempo of the advertisements is consistent with health promotion for those who are not quite obese as well as secondary prevention for those who are suffering from obesity but are looking to prevent the serious diseases associated with obesity and additional weight gain ( Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 184). The theory of planned behavior supports this approach to attitude change in that the commercials enforce subjective norms about the behavior of not being healthy as well as making it look very easy to stop being obese and unhealthy which can enforce a person’s perceived behavior control ( Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 192).

I do not think that this advertisement campaign is very likely to lead to a behavioral change that is significant enough to reduce the rate of obesity in the United States. I am stating this opinion because, although the public service advertisements contain valuable information to make small changes in a person’s life, with regard to health behavior there is not an actionable plan that contains a social support network. For example, making a change to having better portion control or increasing the frequency of walking with the assumption that this behavior change will be easy is not well supported by this campaign. Most likely it will be hard to achieve if there is not any emotional support from friends or family, if there is not any esteem support, or if there is not any tangible or instrumental support to enforce purchasing healthier foods or receiving daily positive, networked support ( Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 200). This advertisement could take a different approach in order to bring about a change in behavior by incorporating fear appeal by showing the end result of obesity such as diseases, illnesses, and eventual death in the same aggressive manner that many of the drunk driving or smoking campaigns have taken in the past ( Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 185).

AdCouncil. (2007, December 24). Obesity prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from www.smallstep.gov.

Schneider, F., Gruman, J., & Coutts, L. (Eds.). (2005). Applied social psychology. London: Sage Publications, Inc.