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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Judith A. McDivitt, PhD, Reba Griffith, MPH, Kimberly G. Lane, PhD; RD, Rebecca Payne, MPH, and Jennifer Miller, MPH. Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Mailstop K-46, Atlanta;, GA 30341-3724, 770-488-5555, jmcdivitt@cdc.gov

One of the better-known brands in public health is “5 A Day,” a message that has become a mainstay in the grocery aisle and a case study for students and practitioners of public health communication for almost 20 years. What happens when current dietary recommendations no longer have a uniform message for all, the recommended "5 A Day" becomes "it depends on your calorie requirements," and the need for individuals to consume sufficient fruits and vegetables is no less urgent than it was when the “5 A Day” recommendation first emerged? These are some of the questions the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is grappling with after changes were made to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and as CDC assumes the Federal leadership of the fruit and vegetable program. To address these questions and to strategically plan the program's future, CDC used a social marketing approach, guided by the CDCynergy for Social Marketing program. This involved: (1) describing the health problem, including causes, related behaviors, and possible audiences, (2) identifying gaps, selecting potential audience segments, and conducting formative research, (3) identifying potentially effective approaches to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, from communication to environmental approaches; and (4) creating a marketing strategy to implement in the future. This presentation will describe the process followed and the findings and decisions at each stage.

Learning Objectives: