Reducing Obesity in Children - Research Proposal Example

Lecturer: Topic: Reducing obesity in children in the community In 2006, it was estimated that out every five kids that are in America, one is considered to be obese where obesity is considered to be twenty percent or more overweight and is perceived to be a disease since it has an association with many health problems such as heart disease and diabetes (Sothern, Gordon and Von-Almen 95). Obesity that begins in children develops all through their lives and they people that are affected become obese as adults. There are various causes off obesity including technology, the decline in supervision after the children leave school, and the diets that the children get in school that are not nutritious. In the previous years, children engaged t in games such as riding bikes while taking part in many other activities after they were done with school activities. The foods that they ate were highly nutritious. These days the children go home to find their houses empty, and they end up eating junk foods. In addition, the foods offered in the schools have also changed, and the children mainly prefer to have candy, soda and chips as their lunch. The habits are promoted by the vending machines that are found in many strategic places. Such conveniences for junk foods are what are causing obesity in many of the American children. A large populations of America are affected by overweight people in the world and the lifestyles that Americans live do not make the situation any better (Aschenbrenner and Venable 497). Project background The last thirty years have witnessed a sharp rise in obesity cases with more than thirty states having over a third of the whole group of children as being more than overweight. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention what measured to be safe in terms of health for a particular tallness, defines obesity. These ranges of weight have also been seen to increase the chances of the people who have them suffering from particular diseases and other linked health problems that include diabetes, sleep apnea, as well as liver disease. The screening instrument that is used in the identification of the probable weight problems in children, which is recommended by the CDCP and American Academy of Pediatrics, is referred to as the Body Mass Index. The Body Mass Index is dependent on the weight and height of the child. It can be considered to be a dependable indicator as far as the fat in the body of the children is concerned (Mahan et al. 166). Child obesity can be identified in both children and adolescents and when children are well beyond the weight that is supposed to correspond to their heights and ages as per the Body Mass Index; they are at risk of developing serious health problems. A number of health repercussions that could be studied linked to obesity are the escalated risk of obesity in adulthood and the problems that that follow. This proposal will focus on the prevention of obesity in children and the risk factors that are associated with it that include such as poor diet, insufficient levels of activity as well personal information. Audience and beneficiaries The first group of beneficiaries who also form part of the audience is schools that support the reduction of obesity in children. Academic administration settings are important players in the battle of fighting childhood obesity. They form part of the audience because they will have a chance to support the study and such other studies and from the outcome of the research. If these schools implement the recommendations, they will help greatly in a reduction of the disease. The most important schools to engage in this study are the early childhood education schools, elementary schools and the secondary schools. The other party to the audiences is the center for disease control. The main aim is they discover the importance of the study and form part of the audience by funding the project. Parents will also benefit from the study because they will learn the meal paterns that are harmful and those that will improve the health of the kids. Specific aims of the project The project aims at understanding the main causes of obesity in the society so that measures that will be aimed at reducing the obesity rates can be put in place to develop a healthier and more active community. Discussion of hypotheses Among the causes of obesity, many can be prevented through lifestyle that are healthy which include eating diets that are balanced as well as taking part in physical activities. Education that concerns the risks that are associated with obesity can also make a contribution to the overall health of a person. Majority of the cases of obesity that are seen in children arise from an imbalance of calories in that very few calories are spent for the amounts that are consumed. Children also develop the risk of becoming obese as a result of the genetics that they are associated with as well as the psychological and socioeconomic characteristics, which are coupled with the influence from the family. Genetics also have the potential to cause an increase in the propensity to gain weight for the young people, but they are supposed to be in existence in a blend with factors that are linked to the environment, as well as action, if they are to have a considerable effect on the development of obesity. In a number of the cases, genetics can be responsible for a child developing obesity but the overall rise cannot be from genetics alone. The genetic attributes that are associated with the people have not changed in any way in the last thirty years, but the occurrence of obesity in children has escalated to levels that are nearly three times those that were recorded in the previous years. The factors that are associated with performance and the conditions are, therefore, supposed to be examined. The possibilities of attribution from genetics since single behaviors have no capacity to cause obesity, but they may become an addition to the caloric balance that a person may have and thus make a contribution to obesity. The intake of calories, the levels of physical activities, as well as the inactive behavior, are behavior factors that can make a contribution to obesity in children and the community of children in the recent times is characterized by the consumption of excess energy in a variety of varying forms. Large servings of food, meals that are eaten away from home and frequent snacks cause excess intake of energy. There is increasing evidence linking the consumption of excess sugar-sweetened drinks with an elevated number of calories, as well as increases in weight in the youth, and since these liquid forms of intake do not fill, they lead to the person consuming them wanting to take more. There is a positive effect that comes from the physical activity. it improves blood pressure while at the same time strengthening their bones and thus the children who are active have likelihood of being active in the future when they are adults (Porth and Hannon 29). This exhibits a corresponding fact that seventy percent of the children who are obese become obese adults when they grow up and the active children tend to become active adults thus the chances of becoming obese are low. There should be physical activity incorporated into the daily routines of the children that are of school going age. It led to a decrease that was associated with the physical activity in the children who were in schools. Schools are, therefore, supposed to include more activities into the daily programs of their students to assist them in meeting the levels of activity that is required for them. the students who fail to attain set standards should also be considered. The media impacts hugely on the level of exercise that the children. This is caused by the idle time children spend on watching television. There exists a positive correlation between the time that is used in watching television and the escalation of the predominance for children to become obese. This is because the children spend much time in front of the sources of entertainment instead of using that time to take part in body building activities. In the process of them being active, as they remain inactive as a result of them being engaged in watching television and the internet, the children also consume foods and drinks that have very low value as far as food is concerned. The advertisements that they are exposed to also a long way in influencing the lifestyles they lead and also the types of food that they will consume. The surroundings where the children spend most of their time is vital since they have an impact in the food that the children will consume and the amount of physical activity that the children will take part. Parents play a big role in modeling the living habits of their children. Approximately eighty percent of the children that are below the age of five and who have mothers who go to work are subjected to some care facility that caters for children. These providers of child care, therefore, share the responsibility of determining the eating habits that the young children will adopt as well as the physical activity that they will take part. The effective and efficient strategies that will be used in this project will involve changes being implemented in the public policies in the areas that include schools as well as neighborhood settings and workplaces. The exercise will make the residents of the chosen areas healthier and the attention will mainly be on the access to foods that are healthy and affordable as well as creating chances for opportunities that will allow the targeted community to adopt physical activities. The programs that will be a community based will aim at changing and sustaining healthy lifestyle practices and will, therefore, be required to generate successful results in the long run. The project will aim at making sure that the information that an individual have is strengthened, and the community will be better educated through advancing the efforts of the community. which will give the people accurate, as well as actionable health knowledge, which will allow lifelong learning that will have skills that can promote healthy living. The project will also aim at developing actions that will foster collaborations and alliances in the community that will help to enhance the eating habits while advancing rigorous and habitual physical activity. Private and public alliances will also be encouraged, and networks will be developed that will be aimed at preventing and reducing the rates of obesity through the development of collaborations that will create access to healthy foods, as well as an increased rate of physical activity in the community. There will also be efforts that will be made towards making foods that are nutritious available and affordable in grocery stores that will come up as well as the existing ones, the farmers markets that are in the neighborhood as well as the gardens that are owned by the community. The project will try to influence the legislation towards prevention and reduction of the escalating rates of obesity. This will be done through strategies that will be supposed to increase Food Stamp programs while meeting the needs associated with food security of the people who are hungry by availing to them foods that are nutritious. The project will increase the efforts directed towards offering children nutritious foods in school. It also improves the efforts of the community to avail mechanisms for the production, distribution and purchase. Project timeline The total time that the project is expected to go on for is twelve months and approximated time for the tasks that will be undertaken are shown below Months 0-4 months 4-9 months 5-12 Task 1 strengthening the experience of the person in the community Task 2 developing public and private alliances, and networks Task 3 influencing the state and local legislations Starting and personnel Mobilizing educational institutions in order to support the research forms the basis for the study. Early childhood schools are the best schools to target during initial or preliminary stages. Consequently, the advancement will be made on other educational institutions. As the timeline suggests, strengthening the knowledge of the individuals in the community will also develop a starting point in collaboration with educational institutions. As a student, the researcher will initiate the mobility of relevant factors and organizations in order to ensure that the research study will be acknowledged and given further support. Provision of evidenced statistics and formulated hypotheses and research formulas will fall under “moving the needle” role towards obesity reduction. The expected participants are established doctors who can aid with nutrition education and obesity reduction in terms of treatment. Teachers and the informed members of the society with information be also welcomed to form part of the research stirrers. Conclusion Obesity has developed rapidly to become a serious problem in the society is concerned, and the number of people with the disease keeps rising. Immediate attention to the problem especially in children, the numbers will continue rising, and the related diseases and disease will continue to be a burden to both the families of the people that have them as well as the health system. Therefore, everyone in the community should make attempts at making sure that the lifestyles that they lead are characterized by healthy and nutritious diets as well as sufficient exercise if they want to reduce the cases of obesity. Work cited Aschenbrenner, Diane and Venable Samantha. “Drug Therapy In Nursing." 1st ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. Print. Mahan, L. et al. “Krauses Food & The Nutrition Care Process." 1st ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Saunders, 2012. Print. Porth, Carol, and Hannon Ruth. ”Porth Pathophysiology." 1st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2010. Print. Sothern, Melinda, Gordon Stewart, and Von-Almen Kristian. “Handbook of Pediatric Obesity.” 1st ed. Boca Raton: CRC/Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.   Read More