Broadcasting Behavior Change: A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Paid and Unpaid Media to Increase Folic Acid Awareness, Knowledge, and Consumption Among Hispanic Women of Childbearing Age

¹ a health education specialist at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
² a behavioral scientist at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
³ associate director of behavioral science and health education at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Awareness about folic acid's effectiveness in reducing the risk of certain birth defects has increased among women in the United States; however, few Hispanic women are consuming enough folic acid daily. A 1998 survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for the National March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation found that English-speaking Hispanic women had lower folic acid awareness (53% vs. 72%) and lower daily consumption (29% vs. 33%) than non-Hispanic White women. In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted baseline surveys with Spanish-speaking Hispanic women in selected U.S. markets to measure folic acid awareness, knowledge, and consumption. A Spanish-language public service announcement (PSA) volunteer campaign and a paid Spanish-language media and community education campaign were conducted in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Comparisons of postcampaign surveys indicate that the paid media campaign was significantly more effective than the PSA campaign in increasing folic acid awareness, knowledge, and consumption among Spanish-speaking Hispanic women.

Key Words: folic acid, Hispanic, Spanish language, PSA, paid media

First published on September 26, 2006, doi:10.1177/1524839906289167

Health Promotion Practice 2007;8:145.

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2007


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