Obesity Intervention for Schools - Assignment Example

Obesity Intervention Summary A growing epidemic of obesity exists among various age groups, but occurrence of the problem among children is highly alarming (Ogden et. al., 2010). This program is an obesity intervention initiative that will promote nutritional and physical activity among 10th and 12th graders in one school district. The plan will commence with training for the concerned stakeholders; children will then be taken through a nutrition and physical activity class. They will participate in a series of sports events, recess classes and short sessions of physical activity in their respective groups. Changes to cafeteria menu will take part so as to offer healthy options while promotions will be done in those venues for alternative activities in order to encourage children to participate. It will also be critical to engage other stakeholders like teachers and parents as they have a critical role to play. Teachers will include physical activities in their classes for ten minutes and they will also encourage their students to engage in plenty of exercises. Communities will also be involved through the work of nongovernmental organizations as well as local farmers markets. Parents will also play a role by attending cooking classes and getting information on healthy living. Children will also engage in fun activities designed to increase their level understanding about proper nutrition and healthy activities. It is expected that the intervention program will lead to better knowledge about nutrition in a way that is fun and relatable to the group. The participants (10th to 12th graders) will also learn about the proper dietary patterns and the relevance of having an active lifestyle. Through involvement of other community members, it is likely that the intervention will lead to better lifestyle challenges. It will increase access and relevance of nutritious and healthy alternatives to members concerned; this may minimize obesity among the targeted members and thus reduce levels of obesity-related illnesses. 2) Description of the environment and the population The study population consists of children between the 10th and 12th grade; this group has the capacity to make healthy food choices. They can discern what is good and bad for them and can respond to health education in a positive light (Kropski et. al., 2008). Obesity is a challenge for most children at this age because it puts them are risk of a number of lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, asthma, osteoarthritis and even type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that there are increasing incidences of myocardial diseases like the ones mentioned above among children of this age. In order to reduce the burden on the health system due to these challenges, it is imperative to focus on the root cause of the problem, which is obesity. Furthermore, aside from physical challenges, it has been shown that obesity among teens leads to depression, bullying and rejection among their peers (Devault et. al., 2009). Therefore, it is not just the biological aspect that will improve if this program is implemented, children will also benefit from improved mental health. High obesity prevalence rates imply that most school-going children are at risk of the same; the environment in which they live mostly creates this. A number of schools lack the right environment needed to encourage children to participate in physical activities. As a result, several of them have become inactive; others prefer passive extracurricular activities that do nothing for their physical health and put them in danger of obesity. Furthermore, high schools around the country tend to have an overrepresentation of junk foods in their eateries; vending machines and high calories foods are the order of the day. Few cafeterias offer healthy alternatives even for those children who would like to eat better; therefore, school menus encourage youth to live unhealthily (Greening et. al., 2011). This proposal will focus on the District of Tulsa, Oklahoma as the population is ripe for intervention and already has a number of support groups or systems that will contribute towards success in outcomes. Cases of obesity are not too high in the area hence explaining why intervention would probably be an effective idea; further, having support from the right avenues is likely to increase chances of success. 3) Proposed methods of increasing access to healthy foods and promoting physical activity In the intervention program, each school will have a nutrition and exercise coach that will be taken through a training program. Therefore, a training program will be a key component in the initiative; all participants will go through a one hour webinar three times a week for a period of 12 weeks. The exercise coach will learn about group play, how to integrate play into classroom lessons, and how to organize extra curricula activities that promote this lifestyle. Conversely, nutritionists will learn about the relevant nutritional guidelines given by the Department of Health for children in this grade (Lally, 2000). After the training, they should be able to work with school staff in order to implement the right meal plans or heighten access to healthy food. After carrying out the training, each school will have an exercise and nutrition manager whose job will be to oversee training of other coaches once the intervention begins. Furthermore, he or she will ascertain that aspects of the program are able to tie in with other components of the school program. Collaboration with school principals is imperative in executing this responsibility. In addition, community partnership will be a must, so the nutrition manager will also collaborate with the district nutrition director. The exercise manager will work hand in hand with teachers and coaches in order to organize league events. Building team rapport and offering other types of support will also go a long way in creating the desired outcomes (Myers et. al., 2014). Once an appointment of an overseer has been completed, each school will carry out nutrition education for the students; the targeted members include all the children between 10 to 12th grades. They will learn about the relevance of eating proper nutrients; students will also learn about the types of food that are healthy and the ones that are not. Methods of preparing these foods will be taught and also ways of purchasing the right kinds of foods in supermarkets will be a part of the sessions (Struempler et. al., 2014). Even methods of dividing the meals into smaller portions and the energy balances (calorie count) will also be given a lot of emphasis. Lessons will be broken down into various contents that engage the children at their level; in order to keep the lessons interesting, these classes will use interactive strategies; for instance, they will provide games that test nutritional knowledge (King et. al., 2014). Children will be divided into small groups where they will get to prepare meals for themselves; they will also taste various foods when blinded in order to assess their knowledge of these nutrition types. Healthy alternatives for snacks will be studied and so will aspects about the quality and nutritional dense foods. This education classes will also last for twelve weeks and will be divided into three classes per week that will be fixed into the class schedules for every school. Physical activity education will also be an important pillar of this intervention where students will be expected to participate in group meetings, as the exercise coach gives them five minutes of coaching prior to their PE classes. In these sessions, individuals could set goals for healthy outcomes by selecting a series of exercises both within and outside the confines of schools; the coach will give them information on the exercise alternatives they can adopt. After equipping children with the knowledge needed to make right nutritional choices, it will be critical to increase access to those foods. The cafeteria system may not be completely altered by the nutritional coaches; however, they can play a role in providing alternatives to children and encouraging them to select those foods. Encouragement will take the form of promotion, where children eating healthy foods will be displayed on posters; furthermore, recipe giveaways or t-shirts will be given to those who make the right choices (Waters et. al., 2011). The nutrition coach will also organize healthy food tastings for children at select times after getting approval from school administrators. On the physical activity side, children will be taken through scheduled games every fortnight where children will do games that will involve different parts of the body. The exercise coach will be responsible for leadership over these classes, and will manage behavior to ensure that it takes place within a certain period. Observations will also occur at this time in order to establish ways of improving the participant’s overall outcomes (Coleman et. al., 2003). Once children have completed routine classes, they will also have opportunities for recess play in either the morning or evening. There will be game areas where they can be taught how to play safely and in a respectful manner with each other. These recess sessions will be promoted to the entire school, and children will be encouraged to attend (Greening et. al., 2011). The component will be particularly helpful to children from underprivileged backgrounds, as they will get opportunities to involve themselves in other kinds of activities that do no harm them. Opportunities for student leadership will also be available through a junior coach program; in essence, a child between the targeted grades will learn about how to coach others. He or she will also provide promotional material to students and be involved in cafeteria campaigns; the person may also lead his or her peers during a series of games available to the school during the recess program. Successful obesity intervention programs are multi-dimensional and involve several stakeholders; this implies that they must engage all the parties that affect a child’s nutritional and exercise choices. For these reasons, another component of the program will be engagement with teachers who will be educated about the relevance of physical activity in their class. Teachers will also designate approximately ten minutes of physical activity breaks in their classes in order to encourage children to be active. They can track the effects of those breaks and share them with other members who may also improve outcomes (Springer et. al., 2013) As mentioned before, the exercise manager will be responsible for organizing leagues within the school; therefore, every school will have a sports league at least thrice annually. The league in the intervention program will differ from others that have been done before because it will target children who have never played the sport. A minimum of twenty children who have never done it will be expected to invite their families and engage in friendly competitions with others in a sport that they are just learning. Finally, the program will also entail community participation; it will identify some local nongovernmental organizations that have worked with nutrition and exercise (Ling et. al., 2014). Local councils in charge of recreational areas, like parks, will also work hand and in hand with them. The nongovernmental organizational will assist in printing material, preparing promotional campaigns and conducting the league competitions. Since healthy food alternatives will be provided, it is imperative to work with local farmers who would sell the items at cheaper alternatives. This would ensure that the healthy food choices are affordable while at the same time offer employment to people in the local community. During parent events, the nutrition and exercise coaches will distribute materials to them concerning the program; they will also have tasting events at such forums in order to get parents’ attention (Eisenmann et. al., 2009). Interactive forums will be available for parents so that they can be supported in creating a conducive environment for correct lifestyle choices. In the forums, the parents will be given starter packs that will put them on the right track towards boosting their children’s health. This will have the effect of guiding them as the packs will be for lunch and snacks, which are areas that often challenge many parents. They will learn about low fat alternatives to snacks and will know about cooking techniques that promote healthy lifestyles for their children. In order to teach them these techniques, parents will be expected to attend cooking classes; some demonstrations will be done at least once a month on these techniques. Policies and legislations that will affect the program The US Department of Agriculture School Lunch and Breakfast programs have clearly laid out guidelines that ought to be followed in such interventions (Caballerro et al, 2003). These guidelines will be critical in ensuring that children still get the right amount of calories needed to get them through the day. The No Child Left Behind Act could impede progress in the program because it places a lot of pressure on schools to focus on academics; some of them have budget cuts that could come in the way of program success (True et. al., 2011). It will be imperative to work with school district boards as they have a role in determining what kind of programs affect a certain district. This program needs to merge with school district curriculum as it is the latter that determines what gets done class. Many sustainable obesity intervention programs often involve preset district conditions in order to make them work. Barriers One of the greatest challenges in any behavioral intervention program is altering the attitudes of the people involved in the intervention (Brown & Duncan, 2002). Since the fast food culture has been engrained in children’s minds for years, it is challenging to change their values in just 12 weeks. Some people are already aware of the dangers associated with high fat, high sugar foods but continue to eat them because it is part of their culture. Therefore, this program may encounter hurdles if the concerned entities do not really take the teachings and classes to heart. Most of the alternatives are voluntary, so unless promotional activities resonate with the audience, it may be difficult to get people to become enthusiastic about the rest of the program. The success of the intervention also depends on administrator and teacher commitment; several activities will need to take place during class time (Whittemore et. al., 2013). Some educators may resent the presence of yet another external party taking up more of their time; it is for this reason that the events were to be organized during the weekend or in recess. However, the ten-minute class time activities depend on teachers’ willingness to follow these guidelines and their general acceptance of the imposition. Training is also a vital part of this program as teachers, students, coaches and administrators need to be equipped with the right knowledge needed to get them through certain outcomes. In case members begin the program from an ill-informed point of view, then chances are that they will not follow-through on the outcomes. In low incomes areas, it is likely that there may be difficulties in garnering support from parents because a number of them are usually too busy to participate in school activities. Poor parental involvement will minimize progress made in school because parents have the ultimate control over the foods children eat. Accessibility to organic foods may also be a challenge in inner city schools and supplies are rather far from school institutions. However, it is hoped that this proposal will garner sufficient support from investors in order to seal the present gap. Sustainable intervention programs usually require follow-up and evaluations in order to assess outcomes and encourage investors to reinvest. However, because obesity prevention may not necessarily be a tangible measure, it may be difficult to demonstrate outcomes. Studies have also shown that programs that reverse certain health problems often garner more support from financiers than those that prevent health issues; therefore, evaluation of outcomes may be a highly challenging issue (Treu et. al., 2011). Problems with time could also be problematic, as this intervention requires children to invest a lot of their time on improvement of lifestyles. Sporting activities in the program will compete with other extracurricular activities that are not intensive physically. Things like music, drama and chess may be take up the time that children need in order to engage in the program. Therefore, it is critical that patrons in charge of these extra-curricular activities be informed and involved in the program as well; sometimes, resistance is normal when it comes from the latter category. Overall, the barriers in this program have been anticipated and included in the program formula through a myriad of strategies such as training and community participation. If the people involved start from a point of knowledge, it is likely that intervention strategy will yield results; the same outcomes may be achieved through collaboration with stakeholders who might challenge realization of program objectives. References Brown, T. & Duncan, C. (2002). Placing geographies of public health. Area, 33(4), 361-369. Caballero, B., Clay, T., Davis, S., Ethelbah, B., Rock, B., Lohman, T., Norman, J. & Stevens, J. (2003). Pathways: A school-based randomized, controlled trial for the prevention of obesity in American Indian school children. 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