Health promotion Goal
The goal of the project is to establish major factors contributing to increasing numbers of obese school-going children and recommend effective plans to prevent the health problem in the future.
Interventions to address the goal
The role of the healthcare sector is to ensure the quality of health and wellbeing of every person in the society. The increasing number of obese children in the United States raises a health risk that requires quick intervention from health care stakeholders. Weight-related conditions traditionally associated with adults are currently more common among the young generation, especially school-aged children compared to the past. Addressing the project goal demands a good understanding of factors that contribute to the problem and the main parties propagating them. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2012), the World Health Assembly established a global strategy that outlines different interventions aimed at preventing obesity in 2011. The World Health Assembly proposed a series of actions in an effort to address the issue that included developing sustainable tools for all states to determine and establish priority areas. Additionally, the action identified population-based approaches for preventing childhood obesity (World Health Organization (WHO), 2012). The following project will utilize these recommendations in developing interventions that address the health promotion goal.
The First Lady, her Excellency Michelle Obama, introduced the “Let’s Move1” initiative that aimed at establishing solutions to the problem of obesity in the young generation. The initiative however started by the First Lady required efforts from the public, the government, and other stakeholders to meet its goals. An effective intervention was employed to ensure every child born in the United States gets into the path of a healthy future by providing parents with helpful information, promoting environments that support healthy living, ensuring schools offer nutritional foods choices, and ensuring every family can access healthy food (Thompson and Carman, 2015). Similar to the First Lady's initiative, the following intervention aims at creating strategies for preventing elementary school-age obesity in the U.S. The intervention follows three primary steps namely; Process, Output, and Outcome. The success of the intervention plan requires effective monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation to address all elements.
Process: The following part involves all stakeholders including health professionals, nutritionists, parents, and the government coming together to establish a program for addressing the problem. The main issues addressed include diet education by health providers and diet experts, the role of parents in ensuring children practice good eating behavior, and the role of government in controlling the consumption of foods that cause obesity.
Output: The output section explains the available resources from stakeholders that promote the implementation of the process. These include supportive policies, effective programs, and supportive environment.
Outcome: The project outcome must fulfill the health promotion goal. The outcome will have significant impacts on the society, economy, health, and the school environment.
Importance of the project relevance to student’s future advanced roles
Nursing students undergo different lessons in the nursing school and among them is the promotion of the health and wellbeing of the people in the society. The following project plays a critical role in influencing future careers of nursing students because it equips them with relevant practical skills and evidence-based knowledge for promoting quality health outcomes in the society. On the other hand, the project assists students in advancing their nursing career by making them campaign for good health practices by engaging in health promotion campaigns. The project gives the student an opportunity to promote changes that influence healthcare outcome. Obesity increases risks for many chronic diseases that cause high mortality rates today such as diabetes. Equipping nurse students with ideas on how to prevent the problem helps them transfer knowledge to other students and promote collaborations that help prevent future occurrences.
Plan for identifying needed data and information to creating the project
The success of the project requires a thorough analysis of relevant data and information related to factors that lead to elementary school-age obesity. The plan assists in developing a deeper understanding of the target population.
Step Two: Collecting information about the population size, age group, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and habitat.
Step Three: Gathering literature about the prevalence of the problem and relating it to the target population.
Step Four: Collecting relevant data related to factors contributing to the occurrence of the phenomenon developing information from it necessary in creating the project.
Comprehensive review of literature and data sources relevant to the question
The impact of elementary school-age obesity
Elementary school-age obesity and overweight have significant impacts on the life of the child. Studies show that obese children perform poorly in school compared to normal children. Naticchioni (2013) tested the above statement by conducting an investigation to determine the relationship between obesity and academic achievement of school-age children. According to the author, U.S. has experienced rising cases of obese children for the last 30 years. The study outcome revealed obesity affects the child’s cognitive ability; hence, impairing the learning process leading to poor grades. However, the study had limitations because of the originality of the data used creating research gaps. Moreover, Johnston et al. (2014) revealed a significant impact of pediatric obesity on both physical and psychosocial behavior of a child. The study recommended the introduction of school-based nutrition programs to help change eating habits of children. Second, the government should intervene by introducing regulations for schools to follow Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Naticchioni, 2013).
Relevance interventions for preventing elementary school-age obesity
Different interventions have been used to prevent the prevalence of school-age obesity in the United States. Lynch et al., (2016) investigated the impact on educational curriculum as an intervention for elementary school-based obesity. The study aimed at evaluating the impact of the Let's Go! 5-2-1-0 pediatric obesity intervention program in elementary schools among third and fourth-grade students. Participants were selected through a randomized controlled field trial. The main factors observed were children's health behaviors, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). The outcome of the study revealed no statistical difference in the improvement of healthy habits of children from the educational curriculum intervention. The lack of positive outcome from the investigation was associated with a small number of participants used in the study. The study by Lynch et al., (2016) plays a critical role in the current project by providing additional knowledge on preventing elementary school-age obesity by introducing an intervention that involves many participants, conducting the research in the same environment that the child learns, and administering both pre- and post-intervention questionnaires.
Karp and Gessel (2015) identified a rise in the prevalence of obesity among school-aged children in the U.S. and came up with a plan to investigate prevention interventions. The study aimed at creating changes in the way people address the issue of childhood obesity to create improvements in the health of the children. In the study, Karp and Gessel researched on the current government's effort to prevent school-age obesity. Numerous clinical trials were performed that recorded data on prevention and treatment. The outcome of each trial was assessed using the BMI, percentage body fat, and skinfold thickness. The outcome of the study showed the limited impact of childhood obesity prevention and treatment programs among school-aged children. Authors recommended the use of evidence-based policy changes by researchers and clinicians to improve children's health. The study assists in meeting the goal of the project by assisting identify gaps in prevention and treatment strategies through introducing policies that allow parents and teachers to take care of children’s health in school.
Data sources relevant to the question
The data needed for the project will come from government statistics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), local health care facilities, and elementary schools.
Evidence of synthesis and review of literature
Obesity has become a national epidemic that requires an effective intervention to help protect the future of the country. Evidence shows that obesity affects the performance of elementary school age children. The impact will have a significant outcome on the future social and economic status of children when they become adults. The government and other stakeholders have done little to address the epidemic because outcomes from studies show an increasing prevalence of obesity among American school-age children. The study by Karp and Gessel revealed a lack of effective interventions to address the problem.
On the other hand, the lack of adequate resources and knowledge to develop strategies interferes with the effectiveness of planned interventions. Evidence shows that the researchers and clinicians have created many interventions to address the issue of elementary school-age obesity, but the lack of effective legislations and health promotion goals prevent the success of these interventions. Despite the time and high cost of government revenues on planning and implementing health promotion programs for addressing the issue, the long-term benefits justify risks.
Theoretical framework
Psychological theories of human behavior can easily apply in the following context by assisting establish an effective process that would help achieve the project goal. The project utilizes the Environmental Research for Weight Gain Prevention (EnRG) framework (see fig. 1) applying the theory of planned behavior. The framework considers four primary elements that make up an intervention to address elementary school-age obesity by addressing the behaviors of children, parents, teachers, and the government.
The application of the framework in the intervention
The theory of planned behavior plays a critical role in developing different nutritional education interventions that promote health and wellbeing of people. The theory assumes that conscious decisions and believes determine the nutritional behavior of an individual. Different factors including sensory perceptions, hunger, and perceived palatability of foods affect dietary behavior and determine the choice of food. Additionally, the food environment that determines the physical, economic, social, and political environments represented by accessibility/availability, affordability, social appropriateness, and regulations respectively influence dietary behaviors and food choices. The EnRG model integrates these elements into a framework for easier analysis and development of an intervention plan. The framework relates dietary behavior to physical activity with environmental responses (such as meal patterns) and personal rational decision-making driven by cognitions. The framework helps in establishing a mediation process between cognitions and the environment that influence individual habits that promote healthy eating (Sleddens et al., 2015).
Potential intervention derived from the review of literature
Proposed intervention:
Integrating culturally specific strategies incorporating environmental components (physical, socio-cultural, economic, and political) and dietary behaviors to help change individual cognitions related to beliefs and intentions. The strategy involves carrying out nutritional and dietary programs to parents and children and creating government policies that promote good eating behaviors.
References
Johnson, C.A., Jennette, P. M., Chen, T., Standberry, S. A., & Woehler, D. (2014). Impact of
pediatric obesity in grades in elementary school. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 5(1), 1-32.
Karp, S. M., & Gesell, S. B. (2015). Obesity Prevention and Treatment in School-aged Children,
Adolescents, and Young Adults—Where Do We Go from Here? Primary Prevention Insights, 5, 1–4.
Lynch, B. A., Gentile, N., Maxson, J., & Kaufman, T. (2016). Elementary School–Based
Obesity Intervention Using an Educational Curriculum. Journal of Community Care & Community Health, 1(1),
Naticchioni, K. (2013). The relationship between obesity and academic achievement of school-
Age children. Senior Honors Projects, paper 9.
Sleddens, E. F., Kroeze, W., Kohl, L., & Kremers, S. (2015). Determinants of dietary
behavior among youth: An umbrella review. International Journal of Behavioral
Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12(1), 7-29.
Thompson, K., & Carman, T. (2015, May 3). A healthful legacy: Michelle Obama looks to the
future of ‘Let’s Move’. The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 May 2016 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/a-healthful-legacy-michelle-obama-looks-to-the-future-of-lets-move/2015/05/03/19feb42c-b3cc-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html
World Health Organization. (2012). A population-based approach to childhood obesity
prevention. Switzerland, Geneva: WHO Document Production Services
