Impact of a French social marketing campaign to increase parental support and physical activity in adolescents aged 11-14 years: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Due to the lower prevalence of adolescents meeting the physical activity guidelines, Santé Publique France launched a social marketing campaign aimed at their parents in September 2022. This campaign aimed to increase parental support and ultimately, adolescents' physical activity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the variations in 1) the determinants of parental support, 2) parental support, and 3) adolescents' physical activity reported by parents between before and after campaign. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted on the Internet. A representative sample of 4,005 French parents (69.7% of women, 53% less than 45y old) was recruited and questioned before the campaign (T0), just after its end (T1), and 9 months later (T2). Analyses were conducted at T1 and T2, with 2,808 and 2,173 parents responding, respectively. The association between changes in the indicators and recollection of the campaign was assessed using adjusted generalized estimation equation models. Data were weighted according to the socio-demographic distribution of the French population. RESULTS: Overall, parents who recalled the campaign increase more their self-efficacy for helping their adolescent find an enjoyable sport w at T1 (p < 0.05), especially among the parents of girls (β = 0.06, p = 0.03) and from a low socio-professional category (β = 0.06, p = 0.02). Parents who recalled the campaign gave more encouragement to their adolescent (β = 0.04, p = 0.04). Among parents with a low level of different indicators at T0, recalled of the campaign was associated with more positive attitude by encouraging their adolescent to be physically active at T1 (p = 0.04) and T2 (p = 0.0008) and by taking part in physical activity with their adolescent at T1 (p = 0.0009); practice of physical activity with their adolescent more frequent at T1 (p = 0.0003). and high physical activity for its teenager (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation showed positive and encouraging results, with some even maintained over the long term. Given these promising results, the campaign has been rebroadcast. Its effectiveness will be investigated with the same cohort of parents.