The lite side

Abstract

The Lite Side is a health communication campaign by four students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The campaign aimed to increase the frequency that university students consume healthier meals on campus, and was executed in collaboration with the Health Promotion Board and National Youth Council in NTU and Singapore Management University.

Healthier eating is developing into an increasingly pressing issue for Singapore. Singaporeans’ priorities of work over health have resulted in health becoming a low priority among Singaporeans. This culture has translated to unhealthy eating habits. Particularly, youths’ diets were found to be high in fat and consist few fruits and vegetables.

To resolve this problem, this campaign aimed to tackle knowledge and attitudinal obstacles that Singaporean university students faced regarding healthier eating. It set the goal of fostering healthier eating habits that students could carry into their working life. Online efforts were used to primarily educate the target audience on the reality of healthier eating, while offline efforts aimed to transform new knowledge and attitudes into healthier eating behaviour.

Post-campaign evaluation revealed that edutainment and on-ground nudges were effective ways of improving knowledge and affecting behaviour. Such strategies can be adopted in the execution of future health campaigns. The effectiveness of a campaign targeted at a specific audience compared to one with a general audience also proves that future health campaigns should cater to specific audiences for greater success.