publications

BMSG's issue series

Fighting junk food marketing to kids: A toolkit for advocates [pdf]

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Communities confronting obesity are frustrated by the corporate marketing practices that make unhealthy foods and beverages attractive, easily available and readily affordable. But local advocates are not powerless to do something about this issue. This toolkit provides examples and stories of what local communities can do to limit the reach of unwanted marketing and promotion. Also available in Spanish.

Framing the economic benefits of investments in early childhood development

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The early childhood development (ECD) field has been energized by a chorus of new voices from outside its ranks: economists. Their arguments reinforce what those in the ECD field have known for some time: that benefits from quality ECD programs accrue not only to individual children and families, but also to society as a whole. But explaining that to those outside the field has not been easy. This paper aims to make that job easier.

More than a message: Framing public health advocacy to change corporate practices

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Framing battles in public health illustrate the tension in our society between individual freedom and collective responsibility. This article describes how two frames, market justice and social justice, first articulated in a public health context by Dan Beauchamp, influence public dialogue on the health consequences of corporate practices. It also offers lessons for health education practitioners who need to frame public health issues in contentious and controversial policy contexts.

Accelerating policy on nutrition: Lessons from tobacco, alcohol, firearms, and traffic safety [pdf]

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Public health advocates in tobacco, alcohol, firearms, and traffic safety struggled for years before understanding that individual approaches alone won’t suffice and that environmental (or policy) approaches to prevention had to be part of the mix. This report looks at how public health got to the point of pushing policy in other arenas so that public health funders, researchers, and practitioners might adapt and apply those lessons to preventing and reducing obesity.

Meta messaging framing your case and reinforcing your allies

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Advocates working on issues as different as gay marriage and affordable housing can construct messages that serve their own immediate strategic needs and, at the same time, echo one another’s larger goals for social change. This memo explains why we think that’s possible and how to do it.

Issue 15: Obesity crisis or soda scapegoat? The debate over selling soda in schools

Saturday, January 01, 2005

In 1999 a Venice High School student asked a simple question: Can the school sell 100% fruit juice in its vending machines? No, said the school — our soda contract forbids it. The ensuing battle led the Los Angeles School Board to ban the sale of soda on its campuses. In Issue 15, we dissect the debate in news coverage of the soda sales bans and find that by acknowledging the complexity of the obesity crises, supporters of the soda sales bans may be undermining their own arguments.

Obesity: Environmental strategies for preventing childhood obesity

Friday, January 09, 2004

Childhood overweight and physical inactivity have reached epidemic levels in the United States, and they are taking a terrible toll on health. This memo explores the prevalence of the problem, its causes and implications, and some of the issues that are blocking the development of a strong consumer-based movement aimed at prevention.

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