Finalist
Obesity and Cancer Awareness Campaign
Summary of work
22,800 cancer cases in the UK every year are caused by being overweight or obese. Only smoking currently causes more cancers. Whilst smoking rates have dramatically declined over the past 50 years, obesity rates remain high with six in ten adults overweight or obese. We found that awareness of the obesity/cancer link was extremely low, so our activity aimed to make the link as ‘famous’ as the link with smoking.
Our approach tackled each part of the system influencing obesity. This included a high-profile awareness campaign, reaching both the public and policymakers, and a digital and print media campaign targeted at primary care professionals to increase the depth of knowledge on the obesity/cancer link.
The most notable results were the 26% point increase in public spontaneous awareness of obesity as a cancer risk factor following the launch campaign, and the 40% point increase in prompted awareness that overweight/obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking amongst health professionals. In turn this helped to build our profile as an influential voice on obesity and facilitated relationships with policymakers. In June 2018 the government announced a plan to half childhood obesity by 2030, which we will continue to support.
Judges’ comments
Cancer Research UK’s demonstrated excellent use of creative with strong HCP outcomes. It offered high awareness for a public health campaign and achieved the objective of showing the link between cancer and obesity.
