Nutrition Education Intervention - Assignment Example

Poor eating habits in children Introduction Presently, many children suffer from food-intake related problems such as malnutrition simply because they have poor eating habits: they fail to consume proportionate nutrients required by their bodies- some over consume whereas others under consume such nutrients. These problems contribute to lifelong deadly effects such as starved brain, poor immunity and kidney failure. This assertion is supported by findings in the study by Al Junaidi et al. (2013).

The study, involving a sample of 1541 students, 50% males and 50% females, indicated that 14.7% suffer from overweight; 7.6% suffer from underweight; and 18.9% suffer from obesity. Only 58.9% had normal weight. Target audience The target audience include children and their parents because they both play a significant role in poor eating habits. Children are careless of their eating habits whereas parents fail to successfully discharge their parenting duties. Needs assessment will be carried out by use of questionnaires.

The behavioural and/or cognitive changes targeted include children’s eating lifestyles, awareness about healthy eating habits and participation in physical exercises/activities.Objectives:Encourage at least 20% of target children to engage in physical exercises/activities;Encourage at least 40% of target children adopt healthy eating habits;Attain at least 60% increase in health eating awareness and its related benefits among parents of target children.Behaviour theory/model utilised:Self efficacy model.

This model was chosen because of its strong influence on the feelings, thoughts and behaviour of the target group.Self efficacy model (Glanz et al., 2008)Marketing In order to attract attention of the target audience, fascinating videos and pictures will be incorporated in messages communicated through social media, specifically instagram. A special application supported by android/smart phones will be developed for this purpose. Such development stems from the increased ownership and usage of mobile phones.

Promotions on televisions will also be pursued.ReferencesAl Junaidi, A., Abdulle, A., Hag-Ali, M., and Nagelkerke, N. (2013). The Prevalence and potential determinants of obesity among school children and adolescents in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Obesity, 37, 68- 74Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., Viswanath, K., & Orleans, C. T. (2008). Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.