TSET nutrition messages teach teens to go beyond gut instinct when choosing snacks

New educational messages teaching teens the importance of healthy eating are rolling out across Oklahoma. The messages are part of Swap Up, a TSET Healthy Youth Initiative campaign that educates about obesity and helps teens learn healthy habits.

The initiative is funded by the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET).

Swap Up messaging helps teens make the connection between the foods they eat and drink and how they think, act and feel. The new campaign, called “Crave Control,” includes two commercials — one geared towards rural teens and the other towards teens in urban areas. Both commercials explore the idea that processed foods control your cravings and make you keep eating, while natural foods signal to your body when to be full so you do not feel ‘gross’ and sluggish from overeating.

The humorous but informative ads feature an animatronic stomach warning snacking teens that some popular snacks are designed in a lab to keep them craving more, without satisfying them. The healthy alternative is to “swap up” and try more natural snacks like grapes and nuts or carrots with sriracha to feel full naturally.

In focus groups conducted by TSET with teenagers across Oklahoma over the last three years, youth expressed how they do not find long-term consequences of unhealthy eating, like obesity and heart disease, to be deterrents. Instead, they are more motivated by immediate side effects like discomfort from bloating and low energy. Swap Up messages incorporate these insights to reach Oklahoma teens.

One third of Oklahoma children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese.

Beginning Jan. 30, “Crave Control” will run on television and cable networks that feature family programming. This is to help spark conversations about eating healthy between teens and their parents. The campaign is already live on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube, and teens can learn even more healthy tips at the interactive website SwapUpOK.com.

Educators and health care providers can help reinforce Swap Up messaging with free resources from TSET, including flyers and bookmark brochures. These items can be ordered at no charge by visiting TSETHealthyYouth. com/order.

To keep up the education and momentum, Swap Up will be presenting a Day of Action in the spring with schools and community organizations across the state. Interested partners can sign up for a free event-in-a-box that will provide everything needed to teach teenagers about healthy eating in a fun, interactive manner. Learn more about the March event by visiting SwapUpDayOK.com.