Pelican, Suzanne (author), van den Heede, Fred A. (author), and van den Heede: Center for Academic Development, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM; Pelican: Nutrition and Dietetics Training Program, Indian Health Service, Santa Fe, NM
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 97 Document Number: C07905
James F. Evans Collection, Ham, Mimeographed, 1994. 1 p. Presented at the Society for Nutrition Education, Portland, OR, July 16-20, 1994., Although marketing offers nutrition educators a number of useful tools and techniques (e.g., market segmentation and focus groups) for reaching audiences more effectively, we shouldn't limit our goals to those of marketing. The ultimate goal of education is different than that of marketing. Education seeks to build a context or a framework into which learners can "fit" new information. In contrast, marketing seeks to sell something to consumers. Even social marketing -- which promotes healthy behaviors -- seeks to "sell" those behaviors, not to educate learners to become independent decision-makers. Of course, most nutrition educators want to influence people's behavior, but don't we also want to challenge learners to think autonomously? Admittedly, education at this level may seem difficult or impossible in some settings. However, if nutrition education is to play an important role in achieving health objectives in the year 2000 and beyond, we mst ask whether our ultimate goal should be to "sell" behaviors to consumers or to teach citizens how to evaluate information so they can behave according to their own judgments.
