Childhood Obesity Prevention and Nutrition - Essay Example

It needs to be understood that Latino community is the fastest growing communities in the US and thus problems pertaining to obesity may act as a threat for the overall development of the economy and community. Thus, there is a need of planning and assessment to highlight the problem along with finding proper solutions for it in the present as well as in the future. As per Mc Kenzie (2008), health policies that address the prerequisites of health such as income, housing, food security and employment often keep a tab on health issues and thus regular surveys and needs assessment should be conducted to make the whole purpose, a useful act.

There is a huge scope for this study as it aims at addressing the most important and crucial health issue among children. Almost every race and community has been facing children obesity problems but Latino community is far more exposed than other communities and thus offering ample scope to the study. Goal of Needs Assessment Watkins (1998) defined needs assessment as a process of determining and addressing needs between current and desired conditions that often leads to development of individuals.

The primary purpose of Childhood Obesity and Health Assessment of Latino Children in Los Angeles is to understand and underpin the primary reasons behind the obesity issues along with finding solutions to overcome it. . Kind of Resources Needed and Available It needs to be understood that developing and designing needs assessment requires opinions and views of people facing the problems. Latino Children of Los Angeles need to be interviewed along with their parents to understand the major reasons of obesity and health problems.

It is important to analyze whether they have proper access to education, healthy foods and economic mobility. This will require a good questionnaire having ten-twelve effective questions based on food habits, education standards, access to healthy foods and medical support and guidance offered by local and national health communities. There is no denying that parents also need to be questioned for their part in promoting or controlling the obesity issue among their children. Along with this, the need and support of local health communities is also required to have an idea on past studies and recent initiatives taken on curtailing obesity and health issues among children.

Need of Needs Assessment Kaufman (1979), the father of needs assessment stated that it is important to define a need and based on that assessment should be done to determine needs defined as a gap in results. There is an actual need of finding reasons behind the obesity issues among Latino children. Rodriguez (2011) voiced her opinions on obesity issues among Latino children in Los Angeles in her article published in Latino Voices stating that there are 16 million Latino children, out of which 38.

2% of Hispanic Children ages 2 to 19 are obese or overweight. Latinos are suffering from obesity issues because of the lack of access to healthy and affordable foods along with adequate education and information on