Childhood Obesity Prevention Program Case Study To Use For Practical Writing Help

Background: The rising prevalence of obesity in children is a serious public health concern. Obesity is like a silent killer, and can predispose the child to a number of lifelong disabilities and chronic diseases. Obesity is negatively linked to life span. A child with obesity has higher amount of adipose tissue deposition, when compared to a normal weight child. The excess calorie that is not utilized for work or growth, is deposited in the form of adipose tissue and stored in the body. Adipose tissues are made of adipocytes or other called fat containing cells.
Obesity occurs from factors that cause calorie imbalance like: eating more than once calorie requirement, lack of physical activity or a combination of both. Physical activities help children spend the excess energy as work. Unlike in the past, today's children live in an environment where there is a constant supply of energy dense, easily digestible and tasty food. This is particularly true in case of children from slightly affluent families. These children are constantly in a state of positive energy balance, and over a period of time, this leads to accumulation of adipose tissue and weight gain.
Lack of awareness about the adverse consequences of obesity, could be the reason for lack of seriousness on the part of the parent and the child to control once body weight. WHO has identified a high rate of disability and premature deaths in adults, who were obese as children. Similarly, children with obesity, are more likely to be affected by chronic noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and musculoskeletal diseases at a young age. They are also more likely to end up being obese at adult age as well. ("WHO | Why Does Childhood Overweight and Obesity Matter?")
Apart from long term consequences, childhood obesity can also result in immediate physiological, social and psychological consequences in the child. Physiological damages are caused by diseases. Obese children have a higher risk to co-morbid conditions like asthma, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea, iron deficiency, early onset puberty, allergies, liver disease and other health related problems. Obesity triggers the onset of disease in childhood, which develops gradually and expresses in adult age. A majority of the negative health consequences associated with obesity, can be prevented by returning to a healthy body weight. A majority of the diseases associated with obesity disappears on reducing weight. (Bhadoria et al. 187)
Obesity can affect the child psychologically and increase the occurrence of psychological disorders like anxiety, emotional problems, low self-esteem, eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. It can also influence self-esteem of the child. Most of the studies on the psychological consequences are inconclusive, and a different pattern was noticed in adult studies. Hence the interpretation needs to be done with caution. Nevertheless, studies have identified that increased prevalence of eating disorders like anorexia, impulse regulation and Bulimia Nervosa in children and adolescents who are obese. In certain cultures, obese children are stigmatized as stupid and lazy. This can lead to negative stereotyping and discrimination of these children, resulting in serious socio-emotional consequences. Obese children may be excluded from sports and other events that requires physical activity. Such marginalization can affect these children psychologically and emotionally. This in-turn, can adversely affect his confidence, self-esteem and overall academic performance. (Bhadoria et al. 187)
The aim of the study, will be to create awareness of the factors and consequences that lead to obesity in children and to prompt activity that will help control activities that lead to obesity. Identification of target population: To begin with, the study will target, overweight and obese primary school children aged 5-12 years of age from one school in Texas. Parents, teachers and caregivers will be also included in this program.
Population: According to the information provided by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, 17% of the children aged 2- 19 years are overweight and obese. These figures are alarming, because it works out to 1 in 6 children in U.S, being overweight/obese. Though there has been a slight decrease in the prevalence of obesity, the figures have remained high enough to cause public health concern. In Texas, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 10 to 17 years of age is 19 % ("Texas State Obesity Data, Rates and Trends: The State of Obesity", 2016). Age, gender and ethnic differences have been observed with regards to the prevalence of obesity in children. The prevalence of obesity is higher in high school girls when compared to high school boys. The percentage of obese, is higher among Hispanics and African Americans when compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Children from high income households of the population had lower obesity rates when compared to the low income groups. Statistical figures suggest a link between parent’s education and the child’s obesity. These trends in the occurrence of obesity, suggest the influence of socio-economic factors in the occurrence of obesity. The aim of the program is to create an awareness about obesity in the target group by educating them on the factors that contribute to obesity and also on the consequences of childhood obesity. ("Childhood Obesity Facts")
Rationale for this program: The rationale for this program is the seriousness of the issue itself, as discussed and evident from the literature presented in the background section of the paper. In addition, the factors that cause obesity, are highly prevalent in Texas’s schools. People have difficulty in judging healthy food from high fat food. Busy parents comprise their responsibility of ensuring the child healthy nutrition, by replacing it with treats at restaurants or provision to eat outside home. All these being unhealthy eating habits contribute to obesity.
Genes are as important as environment in causing obesity. This is true because not all children who consume high energy food tend to be obese. The genetic makeup of a person can encourage the storage of energy as adipose tissue in the body. Environmental factors aggravate the already existing genetic predisposition to obesity. These obesogenic genes, though prevalent generations ago, the environment prevalent then, did not favor their expression. Today, however, with improvement in quality of life and mechanization, the environment has become obesogenic and favored the expression of obesogenic genes. This has led to the sudden increase in the number of obese people in the population.
Obesogenic environment is largely man-made, with the intension of making life easier. For example, the architectural designs of towns and cities that discourage use of parks and playground for children; automobiles that limit walking and running; lack of sidewalks in the neighborhood that discourages walking; living in tall building with elevators that discourages the use of stairs, are few examples of manmade obesogenic environment. Mechanization has greatly reduced physical activity and has made the individuals prone to obesity.
Commercial activities promote the use of junk food and high calorie food use in children. These foods are cheap and easy to find. Even schools have vending machines that dispense fast food. The fast food is not just energy dense, but it also tastes good and come in large portions. This encourages children to eat more. Sedentary type of fun activities like video games, movies, television programs and internet, discourage children from engaging in out-door sports. On an average, a typical American kid spends ~ 45 hrs per week on watching media. Sedentary activities do not help to spend calories, in turn, they promote the storage of calories as fat tissue or adipose tissue. Many schools in U.S, fail to understand the importance of physical education. Mandatory physical education, for at least 30 minutes a day is required for healthy physical make up and strength. (Pradinuk, Pierre Chanoine and Goldman 779-782)
Social and cultural factors can also influence the children to become obese. A culture that rewards its children for being obese, will promote more a number of children to become obese. The food preferences of the parents and the kind of food prepared at home, will determine the type of food eaten by children and their calorie intake. A family that does not promote the intake of vegetables and fruits on a regular basis, will promote obesity in children. Similarly, parents play an important role in promoting physical activity among its children. The risk of becoming obese is high for a child whose both parents or one of the parents is obese. Promoting snacking behavior in the child and irregular meal times, are unhealthy habits that prevent the child from achieving a healthy body weight. Mothers nutritional status at the time of pregnancy, can affect the obesity risk in the developing fetus. Fetus born to malnourished mothers and obese mothers, are more likely to develop obesity, when compared to the average. It is necessary to ensure that the mother’s diet is adequate in all nutrients, especially protein, during gestation and lactation. Proper nutrient intake is essential for healthy development of the fetus. Children who experience protein restriction during the first trimester, were more likely to develop hypertension in later years of life. For all growth restrictions that happen as a result of low calorie intake, when the child is in-utero, it undergoes compensatory growth post gestation, when adequate nutrition is provided. However, most of the extra growth that happens post gestation, occurs with increased deposition of adipose tissue. Breastfeeding was found to be beneficial, in reducing obesity in children. Human milk has the correct proportion of fatty acid, lactose, water and amino acid content that is good for brain development and proper growth. A minimum of 6 months of breastfeeding is recommended for the child. The longer the period of breastfeeding, the lower is the risk of the child to develop obesity. ("Factors Contributing to Obesity")
Behavior changes that will help prevent obesity in children: A complex and multidimensional intervention program is required for the results to be effective. A positive behavior change is essential for prevention of obesity in children. Research evidences suggests that creating awareness about the consequences of unhealthy behavior to the general population, was less effective in bringing about the desired changed. On the contrary, educating each person individually on the ill consequence of obesity was very effective in bringing about the desired change. Other behavioral change models like goal setting, prompt self-monitoring of once behavior, prompt practice and general training to improve communication skills, were effective in bringing about the desired behavior change to control obesity. (Martin, Chater and Lorencatto 1287-129)
Measures: Children need energy for growth. All of the vertical growth in humans takes place during childhood and adolescent years. In order to achieve healthy growth, children need to be provided nutrient dense food, rather than nutrient deficient fast foods. This can be achieved only through healthy eating and healthy snacking habits. Parents should provide their children with healthy low calorie snacks made of fruits and vegetables. Instead of letting the children serve food for themselves, parent must set the portion of the food on the plate for the child to eat. This can ensure that the child is taking the correct amount of food. Eating in front of T.V or computers must be discouraged, as these activities were found to inhibit the control over the amount of food taken. Instead, children should be taught to eat in the kitchen or on the dining table.
Though research studies did not succeed in demonstrating the inverse relationship between physical activity and obesity, physical activity helps maintain body weight. Along with diet management, physical activity fastens weight loss. A minimum 30 minutes of every day physical activity is recommended for children. The Federal law has also mandated 30 minutes of physical activity every day for each student at school.
In the prevention program, a number of measures will be employed to help parents, teachers and children monitor their behavior and to prompt adherence to healthy behavior. To begin with, BMI, which is calculated based on the height and weight of the child, will be used to monitor body weight. Body weight is a good indicator of obesity. Children with BMI less than 25 are considered non-obese, while children in the BMI category of 26-29, are overweight and those with a BMI of 30 and above, are called obese. Both teachers and parents can help the child to monitor their BMI. Teachers and parents can ensure that children get the necessary amount of physical activity by measuring the time they spend on organized physical activities like exercise and sports. Parents can ensure that children take vegetables and fruits as the predominant part of their diet each day.
Resources: The prevention program will require resources for educating and training the target population. An individual visit to the houses of the children and individual counselling will require time. To begin with, only overweight and children with obesity will be targeted for home visits. Teachers and parents will need to monitor children at individual level. A weighing balance will be necessary to monitor BMI. Supervisors are required to ensure that the child receives the necessary amount of physical activity. Infrastructure and facilities for physical activity is assumed to be available for use for children at school. The amount of fruits and vegetable intake can be measured using a standard bowl size. As weight loss and its benefits are slow to express, it would take a minimum of 1 years for the results to be apparent.
Marketing strategy: The marketing strategy for the program will be done by visiting teachers and parent individual and requesting their participation. The intensity of the problem, will motivate the school teachers, parents and children to participate.
Timeline for implementation of the obesity prevention program is provided in tabular format below:
Evaluation of the program and personal reflection: A three phase approach will be done in implementing preventing program. Initially, the available literature will be reviewed to identify the best educational material and the success/drawbacks of earlier programs. This will help develop a working plan for this project. The program will be evaluated at monthly intervals for progress. Factors that hinder progress will be identified and steps will be taken to solve them. The prevention program will benefit the children and will also help in creating new integrative knowledge. Diet, physical activity and community support are required to help children overcome the problem. A review team made of two school staff and an expert can review the data collected during different stages of evaluation and will offer recommendations.
Work cited:
Bhadoria, Ajeet Singh et al. "Childhood Obesity: Causes and Consequences". J Fam Med Primary Care 4.2 (2015): 187. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
"Childhood Obesity Facts". Cdc.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
"Factors Contributing to Obesity". Frac.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Martin, J, A Chater, and F Lorencatto. "Effective Behavior Change Techniques in the Prevention and Management of Childhood Obesity". International Journal of Obesity 37 (2013): 1287-129. Print.
Pradinuk, Mia, Jean Pierre Chanoine, and Ran Goldman. "Obesity and Physical Activity In Children". Can Fam Phys 57.7 (2011): 779-782. Print.
"Texas State Obesity Data, Rates and Trends: The State of Obesity". Stateofobesity.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
"WHO | Why Does Childhood Overweight and Obesity Matter?". Who.int. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.