Perception and translation of numbers: the case of a health campaign in Denmark

Abstract

This article explores the translation of numeric health communications from the authorities to ordinary citizens. Based on qualitative interviews and document analysis, it follows the life of a Danish health campaign called ‘6 a day’ from its initiation to its dissemination, and finally to its place in the perceptions and health practices of citizens. While the definition of the target of ‘6 a day’ was clearly anchored in social and scientific contexts, it incorporated considerable ambiguity and scientific uncertainty, flaws which were deliberately kept from citizens. The number ‘6’ was meant to appear unquestionable. We suggest that this way of making and disseminating numeric health campaigns may best be understood as a process of creating a mould and offering it to citizens to fill with their own health practices. Such a process is rife with translations and the article analyses both these and their impact on citizens’ health practices and perceptions. We conclude that the success of the campaign lies in its implicit logic and the agency it fosters, rather than its ability to improve health literacy or make citizens aspire to specific health targets. The article thereby contributes to an understanding of the effects of numeric health communications. Health communicators may also gain from an increased awareness of the processes of translation involved in health messages created as moulds.

Keywords:

• Health communication
• health promotion
• consumption

Acknowledgements

We want to thank Annemarie Mol and her group ‘Eating Bodies’ at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam for their feedback on a very early draft. We also owe thanks to Morten Meyer Strunge, Thomas Derek Robinson, Domen Bajde, Nanna Ahlmark, Niklas Woermann, and Jessica Chelekis for their comments on the article.

Notes

1. For instance, in a market analysis conducted between 2009 and 2011, 90% of Danes recognized that they had seen the campaign in the media. According to an estimate towards the beginning of the campaign the consumption of fruits and vegetables increased; however, after some years sales stagnated and have not increased in recent years. Moreover, the level of motivation to serve more vegetables and fruits dropped from 50 to 40% in the period 2009–2011 (Tranberg, 2011 internal report).

2. Landbrug og Fødevarer.