Popularization of science in exercise, nutrition and lifestyle: A successful example of science communication in Iran

Abstract

Background: Today, more than ever before we need to encourage people for behavior change toward healthy behaviors and active lifestyle. Using the power of branding, we launched a health campaign to send out health messages to the population. Objectives: The aim of this report was to present data from a new experience in science communication of health concerns for adults. Methods: The “health and life” campaign covered different areas of physical, psychological, social and environmental health issues to promote an active lifestyle. Generally, in monthly sessions, we presented 45-minute talks by health experts on a specific health topic (e.g., smoking, healthy diet) and people with an interesting experience related to the topic were given a time to talk about their story. Participants and lecturer’s information were gathered between January 2013 and July 2017 by on-site registration. Results: Until July 2017, a total of 54 events have been held with a total number of 41566 audiences. Preliminary results indicated that 86-92 % of participants have reported a high level of satisfaction about the quality of health talk program. Conclusions: Through this paper, we presented a new health campaign (health and life campaign) that uses social marketing strategies to promote healthy lifestyle among a wide range of population.