A Happy, Healthy Birthday to the Children's Oral Health Campaign
By Lerin Madole, Editorial Intern
After only a year of efforts, the Children’s Oral Health Campaign by the Ad Council and the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives has really made a dent in the improvement of children’s oral hygiene habits. Their website, 2min2x.org, is full of fun 2-minute activities to engage children during their twice daily tooth brushing. Paired with lots of information and resources for parents, the site really seems to be making a difference.
The Ad Council did a survey for the campaign’s first birthday to find out if they’re making waves yet. The results after just one year, are pleasing and encouraging.
According to the study administered by the Ad Council:
- More than 50 percent of parents surveyed have seen or heard the new Kids’ Healthy Mouths PSAs.
- Significantly more parents in 2013 report that their child brushes at least twice a day compared to before the campaign launched (55 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 48 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 69 percent in 2012).
- Parents in 2013 were also more likely to report their child brushes for at least two minutes each time (64 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 60 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 69 percent in 2012).
- An increased number of English and Spanish-speaking parents report being “good” or “very good” at making sure their child brushes at least twice a day (65 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 60 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 73 percent in 2012) for two minutes each time (58 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 53 percent in 2012, and 79 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 75 percent in 2012).
Growing media exposure and free time/space for ads are fueling the fire for growth for this campaign. Making sure that parents are informed and that children look forward to their 2-minute brushing sessions each day is proving successful in an overall improvement in home habits for children nationwide.
Happy, healthy smiles for our nations children means happy parents as well and happy dentists in the future. With progress like this in only a year, it may only be a small matter of time before dental decay is stripped of its title as the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States.
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Children’s Oral Health Campaign, may there me many more successful years to follow and far fewer children plagued by dental decay that follows them into adulthood.
