How do we ‘Measure Up’?: A critical analysis of knowledge translation in a health social marketing campaign

Abstract

It would be difficult to argue to the contrary that our current culture is inundated with health messages and promotion initiatives. Our daily lives, from school to work, television to newspapers, and billboards to postcards, are saturated by calls for us to eat healthier, exercise more, and take control of our lives. Indeed, government campaigns to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and not least, to lose weight are being supported by unprecedented amounts of funding. The current Australian Better Health Initiative (ABHI) of which ‘Measure Up’ and ‘Swap It, Don’t Stop It’ are a part, is backed by $500 million of public money (Australian Government, 2010). Such programmes however are by nature, largely ‘top down’ and based on taken-for-granted ‘facts’ around health. The aim of the current project is to critically analyse the translation of knowledge between background research and the resulting health promotion campaign. Despite an understanding of the multi-determinants of health, the Australian Government continues to spend vast amounts of money on narrowly focussed individual behaviour change strategies. We examine the apparent disjuncture in the translation of knowledge in the Australian Government’s ‘Measure Up’ and ‘Swap It, Don’t Stop It’