We’re pleased to announce the new stars of our Strong Baby campaign, which were selected from more than 80 adorable babies at an open casting call on October 1.
The eight winners, Nathaniel (15 months), Lucia (9 months), Teddy (15 months), Lariah (14 months), Creighton (17 months), Archie (14 months), Olivia (16 months), and Elleamoura (9 months) will each receive a $200 U.S. savings bond and will appear in future Strong Baby ads.
“We thank every parent and family who entered their own strong baby, and we look forward to seeing our local babies sharing important health messages across Knox County,” said KCHD Director Dr. Martha Buchanan.
“The little ones in this campaign have captured our hearts, and we are thrilled to have local East Tennessee babies promote infant health in our community,” said KCHD Program Manager Katie Larsen. “After all, there are no better ambassadors than our own.”
Earlier this year, KCHD launched the Strong Babies project to improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality rates. Based on a highly-successful campaign created by Serve Marketing and conducted by the City of Milwaukee Health Department, the effort uses lighthearted and attention-grabbing images of stronger-than-average babies to rally the community around the importance of changing the conditions that lead to healthier infants and families. The educational campaign focuses on the importance of early and adequate prenatal care, breastfeeding, good nutrition, avoiding tobacco, and many other healthy activities.
Improving the well-being of mothers, infants and children is an important community health goal for KCHD, as reflected in the organization’s Community Health Assessment. The Strong Baby project is an outcome of KCHD’s Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) program, which is funded by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Health. FIMR is an action-oriented community process that continually assesses, monitors and works to improve service systems and community resources for women, infants and families.
