Promoting healthy lifestyles in childhood: can a social media campaign targeting parents and carers be a valuable tool?

Abstract Background Social media can have a profound impact on population health and should be considered an important determinant of health. No published studies have assessed the potential of Social Media Campaigns (SMCs) as public health tools to address lifestyle behaviours in school-aged children. The aims of this study were to assess the performance of a health promotion SMC targeting parents and carers, compare its cost and reach with a print-based health communication campaign, and document audience responses to the SMC topics. Methods During a 9-month long SMC promoting healthy lifestyles in primary school children, communication materials on the importance of healthy eating habits, physical activity, and of reducing sedentary lifestyles, were posted on Facebook and Instagram. Online social media Key Performance Indicators were used to analyse the SMC within the context of health promotion; costs were defined as expenditures for sponsorship and management of the SMC and for printing and distributing materials for the print-based health communication campaign; a qualitative analysis was carried out to examinate the comments posted by users. Results The SMC reached 1,366,287 accounts and generated 1,791,458 impressions, mostly through sponsored posts. Although the overall budget for the SMC was 2.2 times higher than the one spent for the print-based health communication campaign, the SMC reached almost 27 times more people. Qualitative analysis showed 78% of comments moderately-strongly agreed with the Campaign’s recommendations. Most comments recognized the importance of proper nutrition and an active lifestyle in children, although several users expressed concerns regarding the feasibility of the recommendations. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that social media can be used to convey information on topics of public health concern, thanks to its potential to reach large portions of the population, at a fraction of the cost of print-based health communication campaigns. Our results support the hypothesis that a SMC can be a useful tool to disseminate information regarding healthy lifestyles in school-aged children, with the aim of improving knowledge on nutrition and physical activity among parents and carers. More research is needed to assess the effectiveness of SMCs in changing children's lifestyles and parents' attitudes.