Health & Nutrition Campaigns

1% Or Less Campaigns

The 1% Or Less campaign is a health-education program that aims to reduce the total and saturated fat consumption of communities by encouraging adults and children over 2 years to switch from drinking whole or 2% milk to 1% or fat-free (skim) milk.

One cup of whole milk has as much artery-clogging saturated fat as one hot dog, 5 strips of bacon, a Snickers candy bar, or a fast-food hamburger.

1% Or Less is a new approach to reduce the burden of diet-related disease in this country. Rather than encouraging people to overhaul their entire diet or lifestyle all at once, it has one targeted, simple, and important message: switch from whole or 2% milk to 1% or fat-free (skim) milk.

Although sales of "low-fat" milk (2%, 1% and fat-free combined) have quadrupled over the past 25 years, whole and 2% milk still make up almost three-quarters of all milk sold.

The campaign focuses on milk because of its important contribution to both health and disease. Milk is an important source of calcium and vitamin D for strong bones. However, whole and 2% milk also are among the biggest contributors of saturated fat to Americans' diets. Switching to 1% or skim milk is one of the easiest ways for Americans to get the calcium they need, while reducing their saturated-fat intake and heart-disease risk.

1% Or Less campaigns include:

News coverage and paid ads on television, radio, billboards, and in newspapers;

Milk taste tests and nutrition presentations at supermarkets, worksites, schools, churches, and other community organizations;

Signs in supermarket dairy cases that promote low-fat milk; and

School activities and contests.

The 1% Or Less Handbook

The 1% Or Less Handbook describes how to plan, implement, and evaluate a community-wide, nutrition-education campaign. It includes a wide choice of program options to allow you to plan a campaign that meets the needs of your community, as well as your budget.

The model materials allow you to focus your time and energies on the challenges of implementation, and tailoring programs to your target audience. The 1% Or Less Handbook includes:

Model letters, handouts, and evaluation forms for each program;
Camera-ready materials including logos, fact sheets, fliers, certificates, signs, and more; and
A diskette (in WordPerfect 5.1) of materials so that model materials can be easily adapted for your campaign.

Conducting a 1% Or Less campaign not only promotes the public's health but also is a lot of fun. It is inspiring to see people work together to promote the health of their family and friends, and gratifying to see your efforts result in measurable improvements in eating habits.

Click here for more information about 1% or Less Materials for Schools.

Order Form

Print out this form to place an order.

Order A First Step Toward Healthy Eating: the 1% Or Less Handbook now, and conduct a campaign in your community.

Handbook, $65.00 per copy

School Kit (includes materials for primary and secondary schools), $15.00 per copy

$ ________ Total payment enclosed (all prices include shipping and handling)

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Send to:

CSPI — 1% Or Less
1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20009-5728
Phone (202) 332-9110 x 352 Fax (202) 265-4954

Please allow four to six weeks for delivery.

What the experts say about 1% Or Less

"The campaign seems to have been a simple, successful, and relatively inexpensive undertaking to reduce one of the major sources of saturated fat. Milk is a healthy drink provided that the fat is removed. This approach has the potential to save many lives."

Basil Rifkind, M.D.
Senior Scientific Advisor of Vascular Residency Programs
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health

"Rarely do we see market shares change so rapidly. Clearly, CSPI is onto something that should be expanded. An impressive achievement with important implications."

Alan Berg
Senior Nutrition Advisor
World Bank

"This community-wide education campaign has achieved a dramatic shift in eating habits. It now needs to be expanded to reach the rest of the country."

Dean Ornish, M.D.
President and Director, Preventive Medicine Research Institute

"CSPI's campaign shows that the promotion of low-fat milk causes people to switch, rather than give up milk. I hope it will encourage the dairy industry to promote milk in its most healthful form — as fat-free skim and low-fat 1%."

Virgil Brown, M.D.
Director, Division of Arteriosclerosis and Lipid Metabolism
Emory University School of Medicine

Milk Facts

10 million Americans have osteoporosis — which causes 1.5 million fractures and costs $14 billion a year in health care costs. A healthy diet — especially adequate calcium consumption — and weight-bearing exercise can help build bone mass and prevent debilitating fractures.

Whole and 2% milk are leading sources of artery-clogging saturated fat in Americans' diets. Saturated fat is a major contributor to heart disease — the number one killer of American men and women.

If the average whole-milk drinker switched to skim milk, his/her saturated-fat intake would drop from 12% of calories to 10%, the level recommended by the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Who is CSPI?

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the nation's health through better nutrition, publishes Nutrition Action Healthletter, led efforts to win passage of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, and has conducted widely-publicized studies on the nutritional quality of restaurant meals and theater popcorn.

For more on CSPI.