News
The Foundry says ‘Sheffield is Sweet Enough’
Following months of research, planning, designing and developing, we finally launched our public health initiative for Sheffield City Council on 4th February, surrounded by local primary school children, BBC Radio Sheffield, Look North and the Sheffield Star.
‘Sheffield is Sweet Enough’ has been created in response to a brief from Sheffield City Council to help reduce obesity and tooth decay in children and adults over the next five years.
Almost 1 in 4 children are overweight or obese when they start school in Sheffield. There are also more school children in Sheffield being admitted to hospital for painful tooth extractions than ever before.
Our fully-integrated marketing campaign, targeted at pregnant women, parents and the general adult population of Sheffield, aims to provide information on the effects of sugar and to provide tools to help people make educated choices that support their family’s health.
Working with the council, we conducted a series of workshops which revealed a lack of understanding about recommended daily sugar limits and how much sugar different foods contain. To help make this simpler, we developed a website Sheffield is Sweet Enough to outline the recommended limits and what this means for families.
A social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram has been created to drive traffic to the website which contains information about the benefits of reducing the amount of sugar we eat, how much sugar there is in everyday foods and suggests ways to make simple swaps and lifestyle changes. Other materials include posters and leaflets for GP’s waiting rooms and inserts in maternity booklets for pregnant women.
Lesson plans for schools and education resources for nurseries and community groups, such as scouts and guides, will also be available to download to help children of all ages understand more about sugar and its impact.
The launch has received widespread media coverage, including regional television, radio and press, as well as commentary in Professor Barry Gibson’s blog who is the research lead for the Population and Person Centred Oral Health Group (PAPOR) at Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry.
Speaking about the initiative, Sarah Hepworth, the Council’s Health Improvement Principal, said, “The launch was a fantastic success with all of the school children at Woodthorpe Primary getting excited about the initiative. The Foundry has created a really engaging and creative solution to our brief across a variety of formats including a website, posters, leaflets, school education materials and a social media campaign”.
We’re really proud of being part of such an important campaign for Sheffield and hope it sparks the beginning of a social movement that involves businesses, schools, parents, healthcare professionals, voluntary organisations and community leaders all coming together to tackle sugar. Thanks to everyone at Woodthorpe Community Primary School for making the launch such a success.