CWNS' Winning Ways

Comprised totally of distinguished health professionals, 
the Council for Women's Nutrition Solutions 
provides powerful beef messages within 
the context of a larger nutrition message. 

by Doug Perkins

The Council for Women's Nutrition Solutions, an all-female panel of health professionals, has an appealing acronym-CWNS.  That's pronounced "see-wins" as in "observe your triumphs."

And that's just what beef producers, who fund CWNS through the $1 beef checkoff, have been privileged to do.  Since the group's inception in 1999, beef producers have watched this panel of nutrition speakers achieve multiple wins in getting beef's message to multiple audiences by championing a balanced approach to nutrition in women's everyday lives.

"I call CWNS the beef checkoff's triple play," says Mary K. Young, MS, RD, executive director of nutrition for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).  "The members help the beef industry divide and conquer our work load because they simultaneously reach out to media, health professionals and consumers.  Already, they have registered 100 million media impressions for beef."

That efficiency in spreading beef's nutrition message to the industry's core audience is one reason CWNS is arguably one of the beef checkoff's greatest achievements, says Texas beef producer Verlin Callahan of Austin, acting chairman of NCBA's food policy committee.  Callahan was on the producer-run NCBA committee when it first approved the CWNS concept.

"The beef industry has so many people fighting us, and there is so much blockage of our message through the media," Callahan said.  "When we looked at our research (about beef and nutrition), we were just swapping the information among ourselves because we couldn't get it out to the people who need to use it.  CWNS helps us get our message out, and the results that I hear about are wonderful."

Why is CWNS successful?  It's not just that CWNS has changed the way many Americans perceive beef's role in a total nutrition plan in a mere 2 1/2 years.  It's also that the CWNS members' stature in their individual health professions allows them to serve as third-party authorities who authenticate beef's health message.

In reality, CWNS has blossomed because of its members.  But also credit the beef industry's original master plan.   It was an aggressive concept that transformed the beef checkoff's overall nutrition strategy.

"We wanted to redial the clock on NCBA's programs," Young said of the decisions made in 1999.  "Our previous communication had been that beef fits and it should be part of a healthy diet.  We wanted to begin promoting beef as having nutrients that you need throughout the day."  

Knowledgeable Experts

NCBA recognized an effective nutrition campaign had to overcome skepticism and lack of knowledge about beef.  That could only be achieved through third-party experts.  And experts would promote beef's message only if they were convinced science has proved beef's nutrition merit.

Because the beef industry has an impeccable record of funding unbiased research and disseminating accurate nutrition materials, NCBA found plenty of qualified experts to sign on.

One of those experts, registered dietitian Dayle Hayes of Billings, Mont., said the beef industry's record was a major reason she enlisted as a CWNS charter member.

"As a dietitian and as a woman, I love the CWNS materials, which also means that I am eager to share them with my colleagues and my clients," Hayes said. "The CWNS materials are directly targeted to the nutrition concerns-like weight control, energy levels, diabetes and heart disease-that women have about themselves and their families.  Best of all, CWNS materials are both fun and based in sound science, so I can promote them with confidence and authority."

Hayes said recent checkoff-supported research has made her job easier in demonstrating to other health professionals, consumers and the media how beef fits into a high-energy, health-enhancing lifestyle.  This includes research about:

• The effect of beef on cholesterol levels in heart-healthy diets.

• The role of protein in weight management and blood glucose control.

• The importance of beef in filling nutrient gaps like iron and zinc intake in women.

If factual information was the foundation of the original concept, then NCBA built the rest of the CWNS framework around a defined mission and vision.

The mission became CWNS' unique focus on women experts telling other women between the ages of 25 and 54 that beef fits their diet.

"We thought what better way to reach women than through women," Young said.  "Women bond on an emotional level.  And when you have women health professionals who go through the same issues and frustrations as the target audience, balancing their busy professions with proper nutrition for themselves and their families, then we felt we could achieve that bonding."

CWNS' vision, on the other hand, is to explain beef's innate value at every stage of a woman's life.  To achieve this, CWNS embraced experts in, to name a few:

• Obstetrics/gynecology to explain nutrition's role in pregnancy;

• Pediatrics to explain the value of proper nutrition and activity for normal growth and 
          development in infants and children.

• Psychology to counter the stresses of balancing motherhood and work; and

• Dietetics to counsel on issues ranging from weight management and obesity to research.

"We developed CWNS on many different layers," said Young.  "We created a matrix of women health issues and to see where beef is impacted.  Then we selected professionals with cachet behind them in their respective fields to confront these issues as a member of CWNS."

Through a range of interviews, the council was narrowed down to 10 positions.  Few of the CWNS members had worked for the beef industry prior to joining the council, although some had participated in checkoff-funded research.  Due to one member having to withdraw for personal reasons, the group now has nine persons.  Each has undergone media training, and each helped create CWNS' vision and message.

Although each member knows that CWNS was developed by the beef checkoff, not one is a cheerleader.  Instead, each member strives to place beef in its proper reference as part of a healthy diet.

"All beef messages are in the context of the larger message of a nutritional diet," Young said.  "This is not a group who is seen as working only for beef although beef benefits from their message."

These larger themes that fit beef's message include pregnancy and fertility, energy, stress, children's nutrition and aging.

For instance, CWNS member Dayle Hayes often presents to women the top five power foods in an energy message.  The tomato, full of antioxidants and lycopene, is one of these foods.  And beef, with its iron, zinc and other important nutrients, is too.

Women who hear the message understand that they're not being indoctrinated by propaganda.  Instead, they see that they can make their own choices for a healthy diet.

Rolling Out the Message

Another part of the successful CWNS strategy is to take beef's message to women attending wellness events. These forums have included many of the 35 annual Speaking of Women's Health events held nationwide.  These programs, which show women how to make educated decisions about their health and well being, attract attendees who are open-minded about health recommendations from experts in their respective health fields.

This approach benefits a heavily populated state like Texas, with five metropolitan centers of a million persons or more.  Shalene McNeill , PhD, RD, manager of nutrition programs for the Texas Beef Council (TBC), said each major city might have two major women's events.  And that doesn't count the many medium- to smaller-sized markets where Texas women also need vital nutrition information.

"Because Texas is so large, our biggest challenge as a state beef council is to get a meaningful nutrition message to as many women as we'd like to reach," McNeill said. "The nine CWNS members have helped us extend our message to many more women than we could reach before."

Another great benefit to the beef industry, McNeill said, is that the CWNS members create synergy among the states by promoting a uniform nutrition message.  A consistent, repeated beef message promotes comprehension by consumers.

"Whether CWNS members appear in programs in Texas or in Kansas, they spread the same message to the media, health professionals and consumers," McNeill said.  "That means the beef industry is seen as speaking with one voice with a united message no matter where the message comes from."

In spite of all the gains CWNS has bestowed on beef producers, the beef industry is not the only one winning in this unique program.  Consumers benefit through dissemination of factual information.  And CWNS members also profit as they become exposed to updated nutrition information funded by the beef checkoff as well as help guide the future direction of the industry's research.

That's something that greatly impresses the CWNS membership, says dietitian Dayle Hayes. And a win-win situation is always proof of a successful partnership.

"As a health professional, I am proud to be part of CWNS and to work with the beef industry precisely because of the industry's commitment to science-based nutrition and health messages," Hayes said.

Editor's Note- Doug Perkins is vice president of beef development for the Texas Beef Council.