Overweight and Obesity among the Children - Essay Example

? Childhood Obesity The intervention Overweight and obesity among the children is undoubtedly a pandemic that has to be addressed quickly not only in the United States but across the world in order to avoid the harsh realities associated with this scourge (Natale, et al 2013). It is common knowledge that poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are the leading causes of obesity among children in the society. This is attributed to the fact that most parents lack adequate knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle which involves avoiding foodstuff and beverages with high calories as well as the importance of engaging their children in physical activity. Studies indicate that most parents prefer to take their food from fast food restaurants rather than cooking at home an aspect that is not good for young children who end up consuming food with high calories. Most children end up being exposed to a tendency of high calorie convenience food and beverages at tender age, a habit that they grow up with into adulthood leading to a society with several obese individual. Additionally many parents also do not offer an opportunity for after school physical activities to their children on a regular basis an issue they attribute to job or family related commitments (artinez Vizcaino, et al. 2013). For this reason the public health initiative dubbed KickObese will be home based intervention which will involve informational and educational training programs. KickObese initiative will be a home based nutritional and physical activity programs aimed at increasing the knowledge of parents and the entire neighborhood about healthy diet and physical activity. The key strategies that will be put in place to increase awareness will be informational and educational training programs. The KickObese initiative stems from the belief that the basic foundation of eliminating overweight and obesity among children lies with the parents’ adequate knowledge and awareness of healthy diet and physical activity. In other words majority of parents across the globe lack adequate knowledge about nutrition, diet and healthy eating and provision of such knowledge will be important in combat against obesity (Natale, et al 2013). For a long period of time parents have continued to take their meals away from home an aspect that has increased the consumption of high calorie foods and beverages among young children, thus poor health. The diets of many children that consume fast foods do not meet the nutritional standards and guidelines. This is the main reason why KickObese program is aimed at training and educating parents through individual home visits as well as neighborhood forums on healthy diet, nutrition and foods. The trainers will also focus on increasing knowledge about the stores where parents can get healthy foods especially fresh vegetables, fruits and other nutritious foods for children in the neighborhood. The trainers’ most of whom will be volunteers will use strategies such as public walks, written materials, door to door campaigns as well as public gatherings to educate the masses about need for healthy foods and physical activity. The intervention programs will also target behavioral skill components which will target thoughts as well as social factors influences behavior. This strategy targets the entire neighborhood and it aims at influencing their behavioral approaches towards healthy life choices that would in turn improve the lifestyle of their children. The intention of this strategy is to influence behavior changes through a number of activities which range from individual/group behavioral counseling, rewards, to involvement of family members to promote support systems. For instance parents with overweight or obese children will be given target s with respect to the amount of weight their children should cut and if they succeed they will be given rewards. 2. Evaluation Plan The evaluation plan will be structured around a major goal which is to reduce overweight and obesity by 70% in two years time through healthy nutrition and continuous involvement in physical activity. The evaluation plan will adopt a logical model which will take into consideration components such as the Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Outcomes (Short, intermediary and long-term) and Impact. No plan is ever considered complete if there is no prior stipulation of strategies that will be used to know whether the plan has succeeded or failed. This logical model plays a significant role in interconnecting the components from the inputs/resources, to impacts. The first major step in the evaluation plan involves making contact and relationships with relevant stakeholders including public officials, parents and volunteers (Lavinghouze & Snyder, 2013). These links are important in ensuring that the evaluation taskforce has direct and quick access to relevant resources that will prove very significant in the implementation of the plan. The inputs of the evaluation plan will include a number of components key among them being the funding, participant as well as the volunteering nutrition and medical experts. According to Leeman, et al. (2012) data that is used in the implementation of this plan will be drawn from a wide range of sources. The core source of information for the evaluation plan will be the surveillance data gathered by the Department of Health (DOH) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The key input data that one should focus on when dealing with overweight and obesity problem should be assessment of prevalence and distribution of overweight and obesity among the children as well as the key information relating to poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. The activities section in an evaluation plan involves a wide range of events that are carried out by the taskforce to influence inputs into outputs, outcome and finally impact (Leeman, et al. 2012). Key events during this stage will involve engaging the identified stakeholders, creating awareness and educating the entire neighborhood especially parents, reviewing available evidence on obesity in the neighborhood and formulation of budgets. The Outputs under the evaluation plan will involve the direct intangible effects of activities employed by the taskforce. These may involve issues such as increased public awareness about physical activity and healthy nutrition, increased collaboration between medical and nutrition specialists with parents and members of the public in the neighborhood and public support for the fight against obesity. The outcomes will take into consideration the desired results of the public health intervention strategies aimed at impeding childhood overweight and obesity. Outcomes have been categorized into three classes namely Short-term, Intermediate and Long-term (en Have, et al. 2010). The short term outcomes will involves increased parents recognition for nutritious food and need for physical activity. Intermediate outcome will involve increased number of parents purchasing nutritious food and engaging their children in physical activity as well as increased understanding and ability to different between unhealthy diet and healthy nutritious diet. Long term outcomes will involve issues such as improved Body Mass Index (BMI). The final component that will be taken into consideration by the evaluation plan is the Impact. The impact will involve actual accomplishment of the evaluation plan goals which is to reduce obesity and overweight by 70% in the next two years. References artinez Vizcaino, V., et al. (2013). Successful intervention models for obesity prevention: The role of healthy life styles. Nutricion Hospitalaria, 28105-113. en Have, M et al. (2010). An overview of ethical frameworks in public health: can they be supportive in the evaluation of programs to prevent overweight?. BMC Public Health, 10638-648. Lavinghouze, S., & Snyder, K. (2013). Developing Your Evaluation Plans: A Critical Component of Public Health Program Infrastructure.American. Journal Of Health Education, 44(4), 237-243. Leeman, J., et al. (2012). An Evaluation Framework for Obesity Prevention Policy Interventions. Preventing Chronic Disease, 91.  Natale, R., et al (2013). Design and methods for evaluating an early childhood obesity prevention program in the childcare center setting.BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1-10.  Read More