CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT

World Obesity Day: 4 March 2024

• Introduction
• Key Messaging
• Campaign Assets
• The Conversation Cards
• Kickstart Your Social Media Campaign
• Engagement Tactics

key messages

Campaign narrative:

The theme for World Obesity Day 2024 is ‘Let’s Talk About Obesity and…’

Obesity is a complex interaction of different factors, for different people, in different countries and cultures. We want to leverage the power of World Obesity Day to start these cross-cutting conversations, highlighting obesity’s connections to a host of global issues, challenging damaging misconceptions that halt progress, and influencing policy to embed obesity prevention and management in our food, infrastructure and healthcare systems.

We want to connect the dots of obesity to show that everyone is affected and every sector has a role to play. The conversations will help push the boundaries and seek to upend the ideas that have too long undermined efforts to create meaningful change in health and wider societal systems. But, difficult conversations are the most powerful. And when we talk, debate, and share, we change minds, shift norms, and transform health outcomes.

Together we can create a better outlook for obesity and the 1.9 billion people predicted to be living with it by 2035. Because this is one target we want to miss.

Campaign pillars:

1. Let's Talk About Obesity & Health

Connections between obesity and other health issues are often underestimated. By connecting these dots, we place obesity squarely within the focus of audiences sitting in parallel health spaces, reshaping the narrative to foster environments where the healthiest choice is the easiest.

Let’s talk about obesity and…Diabetes

Let’s talk about obesity and…Mental Health

Let’s talk about obesity and…NCDs

2. Let's Talk About Obesity & Youth

Young people face some of the highest impact from unhealthy environments, despite being least responsible for causing them. We need to work alongside young people to create healthier environments that reduce diseases like obesity, minimise pollution in the air, and stabilise our climate.

Let’s talk about obesity and…Food Marketing

Let’s talk about obesity and…Schools

Let’s talk about obesity and…Stigma

3. Let's Talk About Obesity & Our World

Health is shaped by the world around us. By connecting obesity to the world we live in — and the unhealthy environments that have been created around us — we can link obesity to sectors that have previously been siloed from the conversation, building a new understanding of how obesity interacts with different sectors, and creating new allies to drive towards a more sustainable, equitable, and healthier world.

Let’s talk about obesity and…Creating Healthy Environments

Let’s talk about obesity and…Accessible health systems

Let’s talk about obesity and…Reducing Pollution

Let’s talk about obesity and…Climate Change

Key stats

For this year’s World Obesity Day, we want to help people understand the scale and impact of obesity around the world. According to current estimates:

• Nearly 1 billion people were living with obesity in 2020. That is 1 in 7 people.
• 1.9 billion people around the world will be living with obesity in 2035. That is almost 1 in 4 people.
• Almost 400 million children around the world will be living with obesity in 2035. That is almost 1 in 5 children.
• 1.5 billion adults around the world will be living with obesity in 2035.
• Over 4 billion people around the world will be living with overweight or obesity in 2035.
• Childhood obesity will increase by over 100% from 2020 to 2035.
• Adult obesity will increase by over 60% from 2020 to 2035.
• Prevalence among men will increase from 14% to 23% (73% increase).
• Prevalence among women will increase from 18% to 27% (50% increase).
• The economic impact of overweight and obesity was estimated at 2.4% of GDP in 2020.
• The total economic impact of overweight and obesity is estimated at 4.32$ trillion in 2035.
• The economic impact of overweight and obesity is estimated at 2.9% of GDP in 2035.

Notes: People’ refers to adults and children over 5 years. ‘Children’ refers to those aged 5 to 19 years. ‘Adults’ refers to those aged 20 and over. All estimates and global figures are for the 161 countries featured in The Economic Impact of Overweight & Obesity in 2020 and 2060 (World Obesity Federation & RTI International, 2022)

CAMPAIGN ASSETS

Clear branding and strong visuals are essential for an effective World Obesity Day campaign. They strengthen your campaign messages, catch people’s attention, and create a powerful sense of collective action worldwide.

Available assets:

• Logos and graphic icons
• Social media posts – statements, awareness posts, call to action posts
• Printable posters – event posters, awareness posters, call to action posters
• Zoom backgrounds
• Email signatures
• Conversation cards – deck, PowerPoint and social media carousels

Accessing campaign assets

Remember to read our guidelines and terms before making use of World Obesity Day campaign assets.

General public and non-partner organisations

A selection of readymade campaign assets is available for public use, so you can share our message quickly and easily. Access them here.

Partner organisations

Our campaign collaborators have the option to create their own tailored campaign assets using editable design templates on Canva, a user-friendly online design platform. This year, our assets are designed to be more flexible and editable than ever before. You can adapt areas of text, icons, colours and images in a few simple steps – creating materials that fit your local campaign perfectly.

Photographs

If using photography in your campaign, take care in the selection of images. We recommend using photographs from the World Obesity image bank or the ECPO image bank, but if using your own photographs, be sure not to use stigmatising images that perpetuate negative stereotypes. This could include those that focus on the abdomen or lower body, or show people living with obesity from unflattering angles, engaging in sedentary behaviour or consuming unhealthy food.

Please avoid using hand icons to point to, encircle or otherwise single out an image of an individual person – this can be seen as stigmatising.

the conversation cards

To make talking about obesity easy for everyone, we have created conversation cards to help guide conversation about Obesity &. These conversation cards provide talking points to get your discussion started, along with short facts, prompts and questions. Use them to start a conversation with patients, colleagues, healthcare providers and more. We suggest bringing them into events, panel discussions and group/one to one sessions, or even using them to start a conversation with policymakers.

The cards can be found at www.worldobesityday.org/resources/entry/conversation-cards

WAys to get involved

Walk for WOD

We are launching our first Walk for WOD this year to acknowledge World Obesity Day. It is not about how many steps you do but rather to encourage a sense of community. If you would like to be involved please sign up and we will send further information shortly.

Illuminate your monument

As part of World Obesity Day, we are encouraging members and collaborators to illuminate monuments in their city or country purple! So please sign up to let us know if you will be illuminating a monument.

KICKSTART YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

This World Obesity Day, we want to use the power of conversation to show how obesity connects to so many different areas of our lives, and the world we live in. Social media is an important tool for getting the word out.

We will be sharing stories, events, facts and figures about obesity on social media on and around World Obesity Day. Make sure you are following us on X (formerly Twitter). Share our content and tag us into your posts so we can maximise our online reach!

Planning on using social media in your campaign? Here are some tips to get you started:.

Hashtags

Amplify the message of World Obesity Day using our campaign hashtags. Using the hashtags ensures that all social media material relating to the day can be discovered and tracked by those involved.

#WorldObesityDay is the main hashtag. Include this on all posts.

#WOD2024 can be used if space is a challenge.

#ObesityAnd is the campaign strapline. Use it wherever possible to spread the message and connect obesity to a specific issue that is important to you.

#LetsTalk is an additional hashtag, only to be used alongside #WorldObesityDay or #WOD2024

Finally, for those taking part, there is the #WalkforWOD hashtag

Example tweets

Use social media to share your key messages and catch the attention of your target audiences.

Here are some examples of tweets that you could use:

This #WorldObesityDay, we’re using the power of conversation to show how obesity is connected to the world around us. By talking about #ObesityAnd, we can drive actions to create more sustainable, equitable, and healthier environments. #WOD2024

🌍 On #WorldObesityDay 2024, let's start a global conversation. #Obesity is complex, affecting us all. It's time to challenge misconceptions, influence policy, and connect the dots to create a healthier world for everyone. #LetsTalkAboutObesity #ObesityAnd

🤝 Every sector has a role to play in addressing #Obesity. From food to infrastructure to healthcare, let's work together to embed prevention and management. Together, we can make a difference! #ObesityAnd #WorldObesityDay

Obesity is connected to so much of the world around us. This #WorldObesityDay let's talk about #ObesityAnd everything it is connected to. Our health, young people, or the world around us #WOD2024

ENGAGEMENT TACTICS

Use the conversation cards

This year is all about starting conversations on Obesity & the issue you feel most engaged with. Choose from a range of conversation cards on our website, take a picture or video of you discussing the cards of your choice and post your conversations to social media. This could be a conversation with someone you know, or post your response to start a conversation on social media with people outside your network! Don’t forget to tag @WorldObesity (Instagram) @WorldObesityDay (X)

Conversation cards are available to use online here. Or you can download them here.

Example Tweet: This #WorldObesityDay, I am using the #ObesityAnd cards to start a conversation about obesity. When we talk, debate and share, we can understand how obesity connects to the world around us and transform health outcomes. Find the cards at worldobesityday.org and share your conversation!

Show us your ‘O’ for obesity! Simply hold your hands together in the ‘O’ shape.

Example Tweet: Signal your support for #WorldObesityDay. Take a picture of you making the ‘O’ for Obesity and post it to show your support.

Add a frame to your profile picture

Use a WOD 2024 frame on your social media account and encourage others to use them too. They are available to download here.

Example tweet: This year #WorldObesityDay is on 4 March and the theme is #ObesityAnd. Show your support by adding one of our frames to your profile picture! Download them at worldobesityday.org!

Shares & retweets

Take a moment to share WOD campaign content with your audiences.

Example Tweet: Our theme for this year’s #WorldObesityDay is #ObesityAnd. We want to spread this message far and wide – so please share & retweet and keep an eye out for #WOD2024 posts throughout the day.

Download the factsheets

Factsheets are available to download here.

Example Tweet: #DYK that childhood obesity has nearly doubled every 10 years? It is often carried through to adulthood, so prevention and treatment is vital. This #WorldObesityDay, download our factsheet to learn more about obesity at worldobesityday.org

To keep up to date with all the latest World Obesity Day activities, follow us on X!