Creating memorable, compelling and relevant nutrition messages for today's moms and kids: The Core Nutrition Messages project

Given the tremendous influence mothers can have over the food and feeding environments in their households, nutrition interventions and social marketing campaigns targeting mothers can potentially affect the dietary habits of the whole family, particularly young children. This session will describe the process, findings and outcomes of an USDA Food and Nutrition Service initiative to develop a set of core nutrition education messages targeting low-income mothers and children. Thirty focus groups were conducted in eight States between December 2007 and July 2008 to assist in the development of messages that are clear, emotionally-based, realistic and compelling. One hundred and forty low-income mothers and 73 children participated in this formative research. Overall, mothers preferred messages that emphasized their role as a teacher, while children liked messages incorporating elements of fantasy and the idea of “being the best you could be.” Seven messages were developed for mothers of preschool-age children, five for mothers of elementary school-age children, and five for 8- to 10-year-old children. Messages for mothers address: maternal modeling of fruit and vegetable consumption; making fruits, vegetables and low-fat milk available and accessible in the home; cooking and eating together with children; introducing new foods; and letting children self-serve at meals. Messages for children reinforce messages for mothers and are designed to influence food preferences, beliefs and asking behaviors. An implementation guide was also developed that describes how to use the messages in theory-based interventions and provides information on cultural relevance, selecting communication channels and applications for Federal nutrition assistance programs.