Childhood Obesity Prevention

Sponsor Organization: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Campaign Website: www.smallstep.gov
Volunteer Agency: BYU Ad Lab, GSD&M's Idea City and McCann Erickson, New York 
Campaign Partners: U.S. Olympic Committee, qubo, DreamWorks, NFL, LPGA

About 9 million children over the age of 6 are considered overweight in this country. The American obesity epidemic has been passed to our youngest generation. Overweight children are at far greater risk of developing some chronic diseases, and in addition to putting their health at risk, overweight children are often subjected to exclusion by their peers, which can affect their emotional well-being. 

Through several complimentary efforts, this campaign demonstrates the importance of eating healthy and being physically active, crucial elements to reversing the trend of childhood obesity.

• New PSAs featuring scenes, music, and characters from the film Where the Wild Things Are encourage kids to run, jump, explore, discover, laugh, and howl and challenges to families – reminding them that being physically active can be fun.
• The “Can Your Food Do That?” effort illustrates to kids that eating healthy will help them do the things they love, and do them better.
• “Be a Player” PSAs feature players from the National Football League (NFL) encouraging children to get up and play for at least one hour every day, and demonstrates the fun that they can have doing it.  U.S. Olympic athletes, alongside qubo’s animated characters, reinforce the “Be a Player” message, as well as messages about “Energy Balance” and “Portion Size."

All efforts direct kids and their families to visit www.smallstep.gov to discover fun new play ideas and get more information.  

This is a companion campaign to the adult-targeted Obesity Prevention campaign known as Small Steps. The campaign began in November 2005.

Learn about a related Ad Council initiative, The Coalition for Healthy Children.