Growing Problem of Childhood Obesity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Report Example

Developing a Healthy School Programme to Address the Growing Problem of Childhood Obesity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Affiliation Contents Introduction 3 Kids – ‘Go for your Life’ Programme 5 Issue Background 6 Demographic Targeted 7 Obesity in Saudi Arabia 8 Potential Stakeholders 9 The Healthy School Programme 11 Objectives of the Programme 11 Action Plan 11 Conclusion 13 References 14 Developing a Healthy School Programme to Address the Growing Problem of Childhood Obesity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Introduction Obesity is a lifestyle disease with other diseases in this category including many forms of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (Mouzan et al., 2012). An assessment carried out by Frâncu and Vestemean (2013) on a programme that contributed to change in adults’ lifestyles noted the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified the importance role of lifestyle changes in preventing “80% of cardiovascular disease, 90% of type II diabetes cases and 40% of some forms of cancer” (p. 181). Identifying the importance of lifestyle changes, it is essential to recognise the important role played by health practitioners in encouraging people to live healthy lifestyles. Although clinicians and other health practitioners based in healthcare facilities reach out patients under their care, their work is only limited to the people they interact with, which is only in a smaller scale as their activities do not target the larger population. In this case, it is crucial to implement programmes that target a larger part of the population than the population targeted by clinicians and health practitioners based in healthcare facilities. Such programmes are only possible through the public health approach to promote behaviour that prevented avoidable health conditions (Frâncu & Vestemean, 2013). Although the fundamental advantage of the public health approach is in its scope of targeting a large population, this large population is made possible by involving all stakeholders in achieving a common objective. Mendelson (2007) noted the importance of stakeholders’ support to programmes that promoted healthy living since as a basis for public health. With obesity rates increasingly affecting many nations across the world, lifestyle change through a public health approach is the most efficient way through which nations could control the prevalence of obesity. Obesity in children or child overweight is a critical issue that requires the attention of all stakeholders. Honisett et al. (2009) noted, “Childhood obesity is an important predictor of adult obesity, leading to significant long-term health consequences” (p. 346). In this case, the long-term health consequences have a significant effect on an individual’s quality of life by becoming prone to cardiovascular diseases or conditions like diabetes type II. Therefore, it is crucial to prevent obesity in the larger population by focusing public health approaches on children, in their settings. Targeting children in these settings requires the support of stakeholders who include parents, teachers, and influential stakeholders to ensure the success of public health programmes. Primarily, a school provides a perfect environment due to a combination of factors such as the presence of children from various socio-economic backgrounds and different cultures (Honisett et al., 2009). Stakeholders in the public health sector enhance the success of programmes aimed at promoting citizens’ health. Involving all stakeholders ensures that the shared decision-making mechanism promotes efficiency among programme users, families, caregivers, and workers in the medical and healthcare fields (Wallcraft, 2010). This expose develops a healthy school programme to address the growing problem of childhood obesity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There is the need to ensure that important stakeholders take a frontline in supporting the programme in order to achieve success. Since the programme will be implemented within schools, the participation of school principals is essential in the programme’s success. Parents are another crucial element of stakeholders required to support the implementation of the public health programme. Since the programme seeks to promote healthy living children, parents will be an essential component in supporting the programme. Overall, stakeholders’ support in public health is crucial since “in the longer term it could lead to more responsible citizenship where people make better health choices and learn to care for themselves and those around them” (Wallcraft, 2010, p. 345). In this essay, I will develop a healthy school programme for school going children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a view of preventing the increase of prevalence of obesity amongst this important generation. As we all know, obesity rates are soaring over the world, and Saudi Arabia is not an exception. Therefore, this programme will focus on various activities that schools could implement while identifying the role of each stakeholder in the successful implementation of the proposed programme. However, it is crucial to analyse another programme implemented in Victoria, Australia before embarking on obesity in Saudi Arabia and the proposed programme. Kids – ‘Go for your Life’ Programme This programme was implemented in Victoria, Australia with a view of improving “healthy eating and physical activity levels of children and in doing so reduce the risk of overweight and obesity” (Honisett et al., 2009, p. 346). The programme works with primary schools in the region and early childhood education services such as kindergartens, child day care, and family day care services by supporting physical activities and healthy eating through a public health approach programme that implemented an award program that was comprehensive with simple guidelines. The programme made schools to create healthy environments that encouraged children to engage in physical activities while eating healthy food. Each school becomes an individual member of the programme with the school being trained and provided with support that includes resources required to improve the school’s policies and practices that enable the school to reach award status (Honisett et al., 2009). However, it is crucial to point out that this program focuses on school activities and fails to engage parents as an important stakeholder since it does not provide after-school activities that children should observe. This is important in a country like Saudi Arabia since health care professionals identify the role played by parenting in the spread of obesity. Wang (2014) noted, “Nannies or cooks are often employed, so parents may not know what their children are eating: Saudis often are coaxed to eat large quantities of food when visiting relatives and friends” (p. 1). In effect, implementing such a programme in Saudi Arabia would require the involvement of parents by providing after-school activities, within the programme, which promoted healthy eating and physical activities. Issue Background In the Gulf region, the prevalence of obesity among children, defined as individuals below the age of 20 years, is lower than the obesity rates among the adult population (Alhyas et al., 2011). Nonetheless, the rates of obesity among children are rapidly rising especially in urban centres located within the Gulf Region. Alhyas et al. (2011) further noted that the region last recorded single-digit prevalence rates of obesity in 2000 with the rates increasing ever since, which highlights the importance of ensuring that the public health sector focused on preventing the rising rates of obesity among children since, as earlier indicated, there is a correlation between obesity at childhood and obesity among adults. Surveys conducted in Saudi Arabia have identified the prevalence of obesity among all age groups of Saudi children despite the government’s efforts towards healthy eating programmes and other healthy living activities within schools to prevent obesity among children (Al-Dossary et al., 2011; Amin, Al Sultan, & Ali, 2008). In Saudi Arabia, the number of obese males is more than the number of obese females. The WHO (2002) noted that about 155 million children of school going age were obese with about 22 million of these children being less than five years of age (as cited in Al-Dossary et al., 2011). These figures pose a danger with regard to obesity. In Saudi Arabia, children start developing obesity after the age of five years, which is the school going age in the country. More importantly, statistics indicate that 21% of the country’s children aged 5-9 years are obese (Al-Dossary et al., 2011), which consequently highlights the importance of a public health approach programme that will control the rising number of obese children in the country. The importance of such a programme is essential since, as Al-Dossary et al. (2011) indicated, the weight of these children continued to increase as they became teenagers. With less scrutiny, it is possible for teenagers to carry on being obese into their adulthood, which consequently increases the cost of their treatment. In effect, a nation is forced to focus its resources in treating avoidable and preventable conditions by implementing an effective public health approach programme (Hebert et al., 2013). Demographic Targeted Again, the programme will target primary school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this case, this demographic is essential in ensuring that the country prevents the increase of the prevalence of obesity in the country. Since research studies indicate that obesity in Saudi Arabia starts at the age of 5 years old, this is the school going age that the programme targets. The strength of this programme is that it will prevent the increase of the rates of obesity in children who will be targeted, which ensures that the adult prevalence rate of obesity will be lower than the current rates, in the future. Consequently, this will ensure that the Saudi government will use its health resources in other areas of economic development instead of treating health conditions that are a result of obesity. For example, Wang (2014) projects the treatment for diabetes, in Saudi by 2015 to be $2.4 million with the figure set to be rising every year. Schools present the perfect environment to for the successful implementation of the programme. Yager and O’Dea (2005) identified schools as an important setting through which public health programmes focusing on prevention of eating disorders and child obesity are implemented to people at the critical stage of development. In their recent research, Yager and O’Dea (2008) noted “teachers make an enormous contribution to the general health education and positive health behaviours of young people worldwide” (p. 472). The main weakness of this programme is that it primarily focuses on schools based in Riyadh. Therefore, its implementation does not guarantee the reduction of the prevalence rate of obesity in Saudi Arabia. Conversely, participation in the programme is voluntary, which indicates that the positive results of the programme might not be reflective of the national obesity prevalence rate. However, the successes of the programme could be replicated across the country depending on its successful implementation in Riyadh. Obesity in Saudi Arabia Al-Othaimeen, Al-Nozha, and Osman (2007) noted the changing dynamics in Saudi customary foods being replaced by fast foods that were high in sugar, fats, and salts, which is akin to a country’s nutritional transformation. Coupled with the lifestyle changes that the country is experiencing, the changing nutritional dynamics in the Saudi society are a major contributor to the issues of obesity and related diseases (Al-Hazzaa, 2007; Mahfouz et al., 2008). These issues are playing a big role in the increasing rate of obesity in Saudi Arabia. The lifestyle of most Saudis is increasingly changing in the contemporary society. There are different patterns within which individuals spend their time with each pattern contributing to the lifestyle of an individual. Modern day Saudi children are being brought up in conditions that contribute to poor lifestyles. In their study to investigate the impact of lifestyles and nutrition on health of Saudi children in Abha, Saudi Arabia, Farghaly et al. (2007) found out that it was possible for Saudi children to spend more time watching TV while consuming large amount of snacks foods with little physical activities. Consequently, the failure to observe healthy eating among young Saudi children contributes to obesity while little physical activities increase the prevalence rate of obesity. This study found out that breakfast diets rich in carbohydrates than in fibre foods were consumed by Saudi children with more primary school students consuming breakfast than their secondary school counterparts, which implies that primary school children are at a risk of being obese than those in secondary schools. Furthermore, primary school children participated in less physical activities with those aged 5 years sleeping more than other children and engaging in less physical activities (Farghaly et al., 2007). Hence, the study identified the importance of implementing programmes that promoted healthy eating and physical activities in primary schools. Potential Stakeholders School authorities are the main stakeholders of this programme since schools will be asked to volunteer to participate in the programme. Samuels et al. (2010) identified programmes implemented in a school setting as requiring school principal’s participation for success due to their day-to-day responsibility of running the school. Therefore, the principal influence the implementation of the programme due to their oversight mandate on all school programmes. Since they work by delegating their duties, it is essential for them to appoint a teacher who will be coordinating the programme. Teachers are an essential stakeholder in engaging all children in physical activities and engage in healthy eating. In particular, Brownson, Boehmer, and Luke (2005) identify the importance of physical education teachers in ensuring that a school actively engaged all its students in physical exercises. It is common knowledge that teachers influence students’ behaviour and their support of the programme will ensure that students follow the programme in order to maintain healthy eating behaviour and engage in physical activities. In fact, teachers are the most important stakeholders since they have the highest level of involvement and their impact on the programme will influence its success. This programme will integrate an after-school activity that involved parents as important stakeholders in their children’s healthy living. In this case, the programme will train parents by equipping them with approaches that made the home environment healthy by focusing on issues such as healthy eating, engaging in physical activities, and controlling the duration of time that their children watched television after school. Poor eating habits among Saudi children are one of the primary causes of obesity (Al‑Rethaiaa, Fahmy, & Al‑Shwaiyat, 2010). In effect, parents have a huge impact on the successful implementation of the programme since they will ensure the continuation of healthy living at home. This will ensure that healthy behaviour amongst students was not only implemented in schools, but the practice was continued in the home environment. In relation to watching TV, Al-Ghamdi (2013) noted that parents encouraged unhealthy practices by allowing excess watching of the television after school while eating unhealthy foods. Hence, there is a high level of parents’ involvement since they will carry on the programmes’ activities in homes. The Healthy School Programme Objectives of the Programme Primarily, this programme seeks to inculcate healthy living behaviour among children at a young age in order to prevent the rates of obesity from escalating. While this is the main objective of this programme, minor goals include healthy eating at school and at home while engaging in physical activities fit for their various age groups. Conversely, it is the goal of this programme to be a paragon of healthy living school programmes in Saudi Arabia, which will consequently contribute to the reduction of the rates of obesity in the country. Action Plan The programme will comprise ten strategic approaches that will help a school implement a programme fitted to its needs. The first activities will help the schools build a strong foundation for the programme tailored to its needs, interest, and one that will earn the support of the community. First, the school will involve all stakeholders such as teachers, parents, school community, and others to identify the physical activities and nutritional needs that the school should address while identifying the role of each stakeholder in supporting a healthy environment through a coordinated school healthy programme. Thereafter, participating schools should form a health council under the leadership of the teacher designated by the principal to oversee the implementation of the programme with members drawing representation from all stakeholders. The council will coordinate all health programmes and provide a status weekly report, within the first six months of implementing the programme, and monthly, after six months. The status report is a powerful evaluation tool that monitors the successful implementation of the programme. The school health council assess the school’s health plan and develop a plan that will improve the existing health plan. The self-assessment helps the council to identify goals tailored for the needs of the school with the activities suited for the school. In the foundation stage, the school health council should strengthen the school’s nutrition plan and its physical activity policy by defining the number of times students participated in physical activities and the nutritional content of the foods served and sold within the school. Following the establishment of the foundation, the next phase involves taking action and implementing various strategies. First, the school staff should participate in school wellness programmes with an aim of providing support for the success of the programme. They should be trained on healthy living and the activities that they should undertake to ensure that the programme was a success. Thereafter, it is crucial to implement a high quality course in the school that focused on health education and taught by qualified health teachers. After its implementation, the health council should ensure that all students participated in quality physical education at least once each day. In line with this, teachers and parents should allow children to engage in more physical activities by increasing opportunities for engaging in such activities. The next step involves the implementation of a healthy food programme within the school programme. Finally, the school health council should engage parents in ensuring that children engaged in healthy after-school activities that promoted healthy living and the success of the programme. Conclusion The excessive accumulation of body fat that causes harm is obesity (Alghadir & Aly, 2012). In Saudi Arabia, the prevalence of obesity has been rising with various studies highlighting the dangers posed by the increasing cases. Habits such as unhealthy eating, the failure to encourage physical activities and excessive watching of television (Al‑Ghamdi, 2013) promotes obesity among Saudi children. Therefore, it is the role of the public health sector to structure approaches that are implemented to prevent the increasing cases of obesity. To achieve this, all stakeholders should support such programmes with a school developing its programme based on its unique physical activity and nutritional needs. Hence, a school health council should develop its own programme based on the support of the important stakeholders and the unique needs of the school. In this proposed programme, ten strategies are essential in completing the successful of a tailored health plan for a school. 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