Analysis of health promotion pamphlet appropriateness and effectiveness

¶ … Health Promotion Pamphlet

• Layout appeal • Content quality • Reading level • Clarity • Examples health promotion pamphlet • Usefulness • Cultural sensitivity competence • Helpful hints tips -care management • Appropriate literacy level target audience Include publication information pamphlet

The importance of fruits and vegetables:

A current health promotion pamphlet's appropriateness for the general public

Obesity is on the rise in America. Given this concern, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has produced a pamphlet on the need to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into meals. The title of the pamphlet reads: "How to use fruits and vegetables to manage your weight," so it is explicitly promoted as weight maintenance publication. The cover is orange and features photographs of a cauliflower, cherries, a banana, an orange pepper, and peas, presumably chosen because of their attractive colors, the balance they signify in the eater's diet, and also their relative popularity as foods.

The first page of the pamphlet explains why eating more fruits and vegetables can help the reader create and maintain healthy weight loss. "Using more fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean meats, nuts, and beans is a safe and healthy" [method to lose weight] (How to use fruits and vegetables to manage your weight, 2012, CDC: 2). Fruits and vegetables to fill up the eater. Because they are high in fiber and water, it is easier to eat relatively large amounts of fruits and vegetables and lose weight, versus other substances.

The brochure does not discuss many of the other health benefits of fruits and vegetables, but instead focuses on obesity reduction. It contains many brightly-colored yellow 'sidebars' to give additional information about weight loss such as one on emotional eating: "There are many reasons why people eat more food than they need. Sometimes people eat to make themselves feel good" (How to use fruits and vegetables to manage your weight, 2012, CDC: 2). It notes that this is not the subject of the pamphlet, and directs the reader to seek out other forms of support. This interjection seems rather harsh and jarring, and indicates how the advice in the pamphlet may not be appropriate for readers who may simply eat too much, rather than eat the 'wrong' kinds of food (i.e., no fruits and vegetables, and high-fat meats and starches).

The pamphlet is designed to make healthy food look attractive, in terms of its presentation. It depicts how additional greens can be added to a sandwich or pasta visually, to underline a list of suggestions about how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into the eater's diet. The pamphlet lists meals, and for every meal it offers strategies to slip more fruits and vegetables into food, like substituting an extra egg or cheese with spinach, or putting more fruit than cereal in one's bowl at breakfast. Lettuce can be added instead of additional sandwich meat. There is also important information about portion control: reversing the ratio of meat-to-vegetables decreases calories and increases fiber. Some of these suggestions are visually illustrated, which makes the prospect of changing one's eating habits seem more attractive and less punitive.

There are also visual as well as verbal cues to encourage the viewer to practice good portion control. As well as a highlighted yellow box listing portion sizes of a hundred calories or less for fruits and vegetables, there is also an illustration of what this looks like, for visual learners. To encourage consumers to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, versus dried fruits, the amount of grapes one can eat for the same amount of raisins is also shown visually.

Given the widespread nature of the obesity epidemic, the reading level of the pamphlet is fairly basic. Its tone is straightforward and matter-of-fact, and the suggestions are very simple and designed to make eating more fruits and vegetables seem less intimidating. There is little about the science of the benefits of fruits and vegetables in terms of their antioxidant properties, and the brochure is careful not to make specific health claims for specific types of produce. The benefits are largely assumed, and readers are encouraged to meet their goal of eating a specific amount of fruits and vegetables as a way of promoting weight loss, rather than are taught the all of science behind this suggestion. Additional scientific information does not always promote healthy behavior, and many common lifestyle ailments are linked to being overweight or obese, so a change in body weight will likely proven beneficial for a wide range of individuals. The downside is that people who could still benefit from eating more fruits and vegetables but do not need to lose weight are not addressed by the pamphlet nor are people who may eat enough fruits and vegetables but who still overeat and do not exercise.

The most problematic aspect of the pamphlet is the fact that the reader is encouraged to eat more rather than less -- even snacking is encouraged, so long as the reader consumes fresh fruits and vegetables. It is true that it is directly stated that substitutions are important, but many readers may simply add more calories to their diet rather than eat less (given that actually cutting portion sizes is more difficult than simply adding more foods to the diet). The reader is not encouraged to cut down on snacking and not told not to eat when he or she is hungry. There is only one blurb cautioning the reader to read labels and avoid items with added sugars and sweeteners when buying canned or frozen foods.