Introduction
Obesity may be defined as the condition where an individual has more fat in his body more than the stipulated amount. It has been realized to have various effects on the individual’s health, such as diabetes and heart failures. This issue was mainly believed to be prominent amongst the older members of the society, however, over the years, the issue of obesity has been realized to be a disease that is also affecting the children in the society. As per the World Health Organization report (2012), about 170 Million children have been realized to be overweight and hence may be prone to the various diseases that come with it or in some instances end up dying . Obesity has been realized to be mainly caused by the lifestyle that the child has been subjected to. So this research paper will try to come up with a change strategy using Duck’s change curve models, that will enable the society to be able to combat childhood obesity and ways that it can be treated at its early stages or better prevented (Balacks et al, 2009).
Shock and Denial
As per Duck, this is the first stage that individuals will always tend to get into if combated with a problem. In this case, this will be manifested in the parents. So in order to come up with the best strategy in combating child obesity, then this must be looked into. The shock and denial is mainly caused by various factors such as lack of information amongst the affected individual(Balacks et al, 2009). When it comes to child obesity, it may be attributed to the fact that the mother tend to think that a healthy child is a fat child not knowing that their children are likely to end up being victims of various diseases due to them being obese or even lose their life in the long run.
So the first step in order to tackle this menace in the society is by coming up with programs that will help provide vital information to the parents, guardians and the society at large. This may be though various means, such as seminars, workshops or even door to door campaigns and learning programs. In addition to this, the learning may be taken to the schools themselves, where the children can be taught on the various ways of living healthy. This may be most efficient amongst the adolescents and the teenagers in the institution, due to the fact that at that point in life, they have the right of making their own choices pertaining to what they eat and how they carry out their day to day activities.
Anger and Depression
Even though the learning process was meant to be able to save the children and further lead to them having a healthy life, it may be met with various forms of skepticism and at times excuses from the suffering individual(Balacks et al, 2009). This may include various statements like, ‘I love the way I am’ or “Everyone in my family is fat so stop bothering me”. So at this stage in our model, it is a time to try to convince the members of the society to embrace a healthy lifestyle. This will only be possible by ensuring that the individual’s mentality is changed.
Acceptance and integration
This is the last stage as per the model and it only occurs in instances that the society accepts the change that has been proposed by our group. This may include various methods such as ensuring that the parents ensure that their children profess a healthy life at home. This may include various steps such as having the children eat healthy, for example, eating more vegetables and ensuring that their children have a set time that they eat. It has been realized that irregular eating patterns may be a cause of obesity.
In addition to this, the society must have the various programs which will ensure that the children in their society are always involved in physical activities such as sports and community clean-ups. This is mainly due to the fact that the children mainly due to them in most instances are engulfed in the video games and locked in their rooms rather than being involved in the games. This may include coming up with safe sections of the community that will give the children a safe a serene place to play.
Conclusion
If the above change model is followed effectively, then the community will be able to adequately tackle the issue of obesity amongst the children and help the already obese children. This will be through changing their perceptions, and ensuring that they are knowledgeable on the various means of ensuring living a healthy life and in turn preventing obesity.
References
Balakas, K., Potter, P., Pratt, E., Rea, G., & Williams, J. (2009). Evidence equals excellence: the application of an evidence-based practice model in an academic medical center. Nursing Clinics of North America, 44(1), 1-10.
WebMd LLC. (2016). Obesity in Children. Retrieved July 05, 2016, from Webmd Children's Health: http://www.webmd.com/children/guide/obesity-children
Work Health organization. (2012). Childhood Obesity. World Health Organization, 11-22.
