Life Style Campaigns

FGÖ has been staging broad-based information and public education campaigns since 1999. Their main aim has been to increase public consciousness and knowledge about life style issues. The major topics addressed so far have been exercise, nutrition, life style and not smoking.

The first life style campaigns in 1999 and 2000 were devoted to general personal well-being and the diversity of strategies people can use to benefit their own health through exercise, nutrition and appropriate care of their mental and emotional health. Nutrition was explored in greater depth in a further campaign in 2001.

The title of the pro non-smoker campaign “Ich bRAUCHs nicht” in 2002 is a word play that could translate as "Smoking? Who needs it?!” It is a response by Fonds Gesundes Österreich's to the evident trend of kids starting to smoke at ever younger ages and to the growing sentiment among kids that smoking is cool.

In a joint effort with the Health Ministry, FGÖ launched an Exercise Campaign in 2003/2004 aimed at reducing people’s initial trepidation about exercise and to motivate them to take that first all-important step toward leading a more active life.

Fonds Gesundes Österreich teamed up with the Health Ministry again in 2004 to launch a nation-wide campaign with the slogan “Schau auf Dich!” (= “Look After Yourself”). The main intent was to direct public attention to an often neglected topic: mental health and emotional well-being.

The current nation-wide campaign is entitled “Die Ernährungspyramide baut auf” (= “The Food Pyramid – A Great Base for Building a Better Life"). Its objective is to help as many people in Austria as possible acquire a taste for balanced nutrition. The initiative is directed especially at individuals without any evident prior interest in this topic.