Swap Up: A New Campaign to Prevent Youth Obesity in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has the eighth highest youth obesity rate in the country, with an estimated 150,000 children who are classified as overweight or obese. To help reverse this trend, we worked with the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to launch Swap Up, a media campaign focusing on youth obesity prevention across the state.

The Swap Up campaign delivers nutrition messages to teens 13-18 years old by providing tangible tips to incorporate into their daily lives. Messages are based on research conducted with more than 400 Oklahoma teens.

Swap Up kicked off with a new ad “Fuel for Football,” which shows teens that drinking water, rather than sugary drinks, can improve physical performance and make them feel better. This ad reaches teens through social media channels and television.

Swap Up also features an interactive, mobile-friendly website that gives teens specific recommendations for changing eating habits in a manner they can control, such as what sides they should eat at a restaurant, how to select healthy convenience store snacks, or choosing water over sugary drinks.

Swap Up uses Rescue's SAVI Messaging model for nutrition. Rather than telling audiences to simply "eat healthier," it calls for Specific, Acceptable, Viable, and Impactful messages to reduce the burden of figuring out how to eat healthy, like providing real-life swaps. Learn more about the SAVI Messaging model in this educational video from Rescue’s President and Executive Creative Director Jeff Jordan.

If you’d like to learn more about bringing a nutrition campaign to your community, please contact Dina Weldin, group management director, nutrition programs.