In 1975 the Victorian government launched the Life. Be in it. health promotion campaign. An instant success, the campaign went national in 1977. Over the next 4 years, it went on to become one of the most successful health campaigns in Australian history and, arguably, the most beloved.

For those too young to know it, Life. Be in it. was all about encouraging people to get active. One of the reasons for its success, and enduring public recognition, was that it delivered its key messages via the use of a cartoon character, Norm, an affable middle-aged family man with a pot belly and an obviously sedentary lifestyle.

The anatomy of a successful campaign

In a series of television commercials, Norm was to be found sitting in front of his television, watching the cricket, and drinking beer. Usually, his program would be interrupted by a community service announcement focused on obesity, the importance of a balanced diet and/or the importance of physical activity for good health. Cleverly, the advertisers made Norm ambivalent about improving his health. This meant he was never very sure about the advice he was getting, and seemed to enjoy drinking beer, eating junk food, and being a ‘couch potato’.

Importantly, this was something his wife was less happy about and she acted as the voice of healthy reason in the commercials, appearing on screen whenever Norm’s faulty thinking needed correcting. And this was the beauty of the campaign. Norm’s lack of change readiness made him relatable, as many viewers likely shared his hesitancy about health change.

Naturally, the logic of the campaign is probably not what most people remember. Like me, people probably remember the clear, positive message, the punchy slogan (‘Life. Be in it.’) and the catchy jingle. Even today, 40 years later, I can still recall the tune and the lyrics (‘Be in it, today, live more of your life’). So, it’s no surprise it was a successful campaign!

The importance of raising public awareness

Life. Be in it. was a landmark campaign in many ways. It was a clear demonstration that health experts could empathise with the general population and shape clear health messages. It also proved how useful the media could be for delivering such messages. As a result, numerous other campaigns have been implemented since Norm graced our TV screens. But they haven’t been focused solely on physical activity. Other targets have included poor dietary habits, unsafe sex, smoking, illicit drug use, alcohol consumption, drink driving and participation in cancer screening.

Of course, this is a very good thing because a good campaign has the potential to save many lives. For example, according to recent Australian Cancer Council estimates, if bowel cancer screening were to increase from 4 in 10 to 6 in 10 people, a total of 84,000 lives could be saved in the next 20 years. And that’s just as a result of bowel cancer screening!

Health promotion overexposure

As a result of these campaigns, governments and health agencies have become very good at delivering health messages. But, to my mind, this strength has also brought a weakness. That is, for close to 40 years the public has been so exposed to well-crafted health campaigns that they may have become overexposed. For example, take the long running Go for 2 & 5 fruit and vegetable campaign. Gauging the success of this campaign would not be hard to do*. If you stopped 10 people in the street and asked them to define ‘healthy diet’, it’s likely many would include ‘5 serves of veges and 2 serves of fruit’ as part of their definition.

* The success of this program has been scientifically validated, with survey data in Western Australia revealing 62% unprompted recall of key messages during the campaign, and a total of 90% when prompted. Whilst recall rates dropped at a 12-month follow-up, they were still 42% for unprompted recall, and 77% for prompted recall.

Yet, despite the success of these campaigns, rates of obesity and overweight continue to increase in Australia. It seems people are aware of the need to eat a balanced, nutritious diet, but they fail to do so.

The paradox of exercise, healthy eating…and many other things

In a 2021 blog post I noted that, ‘when it comes to exercise, a paradox exists: most people know it’s good for them, but they struggle to do it. We fail to act in our self-interest.’

It seems to me that the same paradox exists with healthy eating, and smoking, and various other health behaviours. People know what should be done but they don’t go and do it. Why exactly? Well, to my mind, overexposure to health promotion messages is a part of it. When exposed to the same message repeatedly, people can start tuning out and begin thinking ‘yeah, yeah, I know all that’ with little or no follow through.

But there are at least two other reasons for these health paradoxes:

First, health promotion messages are usually geared towards telling people what to do. Basically, they act like prescriptions…prescriptions to walk 10,000 steps a day or eat 5 serves of veges. And that’s a problem because, at a fundamental level, most people don’t like being told what to do. Especially when they have lived a bit and are in their 30s, 40s or 50s.

Second, health promotion messages are shaped by health experts and presented in ways they find most compelling. Usually this focuses on lowering our chances of getting certain diseases or cancers. But, given current levels of physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, it would seem the public don’t find these messages motivating enough. Given all this, it seemed another approach was needed.

Get Moving. Keep Moving.

When I sat down and thought about it, a better approach seemed to be one that could sit alongside health promotion efforts and help people to make decisions about their health. Decisions they can feel ownership over, based on reasons they find most compelling.

That’s what my new book, Get Moving. Keep Moving is all about. It outlines a process designed to increase levels of physical activity based on asking people what they would like to do, rather than telling them what they should do. I’ve called this approach the Health Activation Process.

The Health Activation Process is organised around 4 stages that encourage people to REFLECT (look backwards), PROJECT (look forwards), INSPECT (look inwards) and CONNECT (look outwards). The approach assumes that readers have at some stage in their childhood, adolescence or early adulthood enjoyed some form of physical activity. As such, it begins by encouraging people to reminisce about their past positive experiences (Reflect) and then use those memories to imagine a preferred future (Project), before exploring their physical and mental readiness for change (Inspect) and, very importantly, building a support network that can support that change (Connect).

The ‘Shane Warne Effect’

The recent death of Shane Warne has shocked and saddened billions of people around the world. Given the prowess he displayed in his sport of choice, this was not surprising. He was a once in a generation talent, the like of which we may never see again.

According to the Australian Heart Foundation, his death (along with the death of Senator Kimberley Kitching 6 days later) has triggered a sharp increase in the number of people seeking information about heart-health screening. Given both were 52 years old, their untimely deaths seem to have people in that age bracket pausing to think about their health.

But will those pauses lead to positive health change? Or - of greater interest to me - will it lead to sustained positive health change? Whilst there’s no doubt it could, healthy lifestyles don’t just happen. They require a bit of thought and a bit of planning, which all rests on some decent reasons for doing it in the first place. Reasons that can not only get you moving, but also help to keep you moving.

info@drgordonspence.com
(+61) 421 641649

Wondering about sources?

Pollard, C. M., Miller, M. R., Daly, A. M., Crouchley, K. E., O’Donoghue, K. J., Lang, A. J., & Binns, C. W. (2008). Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption: success of the Western Australian Go for 2&5® campaign. Public Health Nutrition, 11(3), 314-320.