Proposed Solution
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of obesity among children has tripled from 6.5% in 1980 to 18.6% as of 2008. This is contrary to the prevalence of adults which has doubled. An effective solution for the overall problem of obesity should therefore focus more on children. Consequently, the proposed solution focuses more on school-going children given that a huge proportion of the target population (children) attends school, which is an important point of the socialization process for children. The solution involves inculcating practices and policies in schools that promote healthy habits with regard to nutrition and physical exercises. In terms of nutrition, the intervention involves providing healthy meals and snacks in schools. Guidelines provided by the CDC define a healthy meal as one that contains whole grains, fibers, vegetables and fresh fruits (Moseley, 2014). The meal should also contain very limited amounts of saturated fats. Children are also more likely to undertake physical activity in their schools as opposed to any other external environment.
The intervention seeks to take advantage of the already existing infrastructure in schools as exemplified by school feeding programs and facilities for physical exercise. This would help lower the overall cost of the intervention making it more practical as opposed to a broad-based intervention across the entire community. Training teachers and other members of staff on the importance of nutrition and physical activity is an expensive undertaking. The school environment, therefore, provides a highly focused point within which to address the problem of obesity.
Consistency of Proposed Solution with Organizational Culture
For the success of the proposed solution, it should be able to blend seamlessly with the organizational culture of the target population (school going children). The organizational culture in schools is one in which socialization is a primary element. The aspect of socialization leads to shared values, which have a strong influence on the children. The proposed intervention deals with nutrition and physical activities in schools. The two are essentially impacted by the extent of socialization and as such contribute to the organizational culture. By creating an environment in which the schools’ shared values encompass healthy habits in terms of nutrition and physical activity, the solution will contribute to a more progressive organizational culture which will ultimately reduce obesity rates among children.
Outside the school environment, the culture of the communities in which people reside is highly divided in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, age, and family income levels (CDC, 2004), and, as a result, efforts to have specialized initiatives to lower obesity rates may be impractical and costly. However, the organizational culture in schools seeks to eliminate some of the limitations mentioned above by ensuring that all the children are treated using a standardized approach in terms of facilities and nutrition. As a result, the proposed solution seeks to take advantage of the harmonized organizational culture in schools in order to effect behavior change (in terms of healthy living habits) across a wide a cross section of the target population.
Expected Outcome
The expected outcome is that in the long run, the Body Mass Index (BMI) of obese children in schools will reduce to be in line with the Healthy People 2020 target of 14.5% down from the current baseline of 16.1% set between 2005 and 2008 (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014). The metric for determining the drop in obesity rates will include an evaluation of the BMI with an index above the 95th percentile using population data obtained in 1970s being considered the threshold for a case to be termed as obese.
Methods of Achieving the Outcome
The intended outcome will be achieved through an overall improvement in the quality of meals provided in schools. The improvement should be reflected even in the foods sold in school canteens so as to ensure that they support healthy diets for the children. There will also be revisions to the school curricula and other policies to reflect changes made in the schools’ nutrition program. In essence, it calls for an increase in the resources that schools allocate to their feeding programs (White House, 2010).
In terms of physical exercise, the methods to be used in order to achieve the intended outcome include the formulation of policies that encourage the uptake of physical activities for all the categories of school going children. The policies should go hand in hand with the development of facilities suitable for physical activities in the schools. The physical education activities should ensure that for at least half of the allocated time, children engage in average to vigorous exercises. Training of teachers and other members of staff will also assist in the attainment of the intended outcome (White House, 2010).
Impact of the Outcome
One of the major barriers towards achieving the outcome is perceptional. There is a perception that healthy eating habits are associated with the old generation and as such school going children may not necessarily be enthusiastic about the idea. Stigma is also a major limitation. The proposed methods will most likely draw attention towards obese children especially when it comes to physical exercise which might affect their welfare and self-esteem. The assumption is that the requisite resources will be availed in order to ensure that obesity rates among children are reduced.
The achievement of the outcome will have a major impact on the overall quality of care. It is because according to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2014), an improvement in nutrition and rate of physical activity lowers the risk of an individual suffering from heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. It will also help raise the level of professional expertise by contributing to the overall body of knowledge with regard to obesity. It is because the school going children will act as an important source of knowledge and comparison on issues of obesity.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004). Promoting Healthy Eating And
Physical Activity for A Healthier Nation. Cdc.gov Retrieved June 29, 2016 from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/publications/pdf/pp-ch7.pdf
Moseley, L. (2014).Best Practices in the Management of Pediatric Obesity in Primary Care
Clinics. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved June 29, 2016 from http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2732
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2014). Healthy People 2020 Leading
Health Indicators: Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Healthypeople.gov Retrieved June 29, 2016 from https://www.healthypeople.gov/sites/default/files/HP2020_LHI_Nut_PhysActiv.pdf
White House (2010). Childhood Obesity Task Force Unveils Action Plan: Solving the Problem
of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation. Whitehouse.gov Retrieved June 29, 2016 from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/childhood-obesity-task-force-unveils-action-plan-solving-problem-childhood-obesity-
