Obesity in Young Children - Essay Example

Obesity in Young Children Part A: Booklet OBESSITY IN YOUNG CHILDREN OBJECTIVES Obesity in young children has drawn significant attention of worldwide healthcare agencies as well as parents in the present scenario.It has been observed that obesity in young children have profound physical and psychological health impact.Given the severity of the increasing prevalence of obesity in young children and its related adverse impact, the article aims addressing and encouraging the young children to develop attitude/behaviour change as a measure to combat with the epidemic of obesity. PROGRAMS AND MEASURES AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS THE OBESITY IN YOUNG CHILDREN Due to the increasing prevalence of obesity in young children and the potential threats associated with it, the UK government has undertaken several measures and has designed programs to curb the increasing rate of obesity in children and to promote healthy lives. In this regard, the UK government has undertaken initiatives such as ‘Healthy Child Programme’, ‘National Child Measurement Programme’, the ‘Public Health Responsibility Deal’ and ‘Change4Life Programme’ to name a few in order to restrict the prevalence of obesity among young children (Ryley, 2012). PROGRAM 1 Healthy Child Programme The Healthy Child Programme is a preventive programme that commences from infancy state and continues through childhood. The programme is an evident based initiative designed towards promoting health and parenting support. One of the major goals of the Healthy Child Programme is to prevent obesity in young children.The major strengths of this programme are that it covers all the aspects included in other programme to address the challenges of rising obesity in young children. Besides, the programme considers the need of children while it also seeks participation from parents to support the initiative. On the other hand, the major drawback of this program is that it focuses more on parents rather changing the behaviour of young children (Rudolf, 2010). PROGRAM 2 National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) NCMP established in the year 2005-2006 is another government led initiatives towards preventing the increasing rate of obesity in young children. This programme deals with recording height and weight measurements of young children that allows detailed assessment of prevalence and trends on overweight and obesity levels of children.The strengths of this programme are related with the impartial and accessible data on the prevalence and trends pertaining to level of obesity in children. Conversely, the limited reach of the programme is the major drawback associated with this programme (Lifestyle Statistics Team, 2013). PROGRAM 3 The Public Health Responsibility Deal The Responsibility Deal was developed to encourage the business involved in manufacturing of food and beverages as well as retailers to support the government initiative to reduce the growing rate of obesity in young children. The Responsibility Deal involves a set of pledges, which the businesses are required to comply.The programme focuses on both businesses as well as the children, which is its major strength. On the contrary, the increased focus on business segment for preventing obesity can be identified as less relevant with respect to this programme (Ellison, 2013).   PROGRAM 4 Change4Life Programme Change4Life Programme generally deals with making good choices regarding the consumption of food and drinks. The programme involves advising young children and their parents regarding the healthy diet and importance of physical activity. One of the major strength of this programme is that it is predominately associated with generating awareness regarding the healthy lifestyle and diet. Nevertheless, certain limitations can be ascertained with regard to this programme. Notably, this programme has been ascertained to have little impact on the attitude and behaviour of young children (Croker &et. al., 2012). Part B The Rationale for Choosing the Topic The topic, “Obesity in Young Children” has been chosen for the article, as the epidemic of obesity as drawn significant attention of worldwide healthcare agencies as well as the parents in the present scenario. Factors such as lifestyle preferences, diet and cultural environment are determined to have widespread impact on the rising trend of obesity in young children in the U K (Lifestyles statistics team, 2014). Target Audience Young children suffering from the disease of obesity are the primary target audience while the parents are the secondary audience. The young children with obesity and their parents are selected as the target audience as the young children in the UK are more vulnerable to the disease. The Intended Aim of the Resource The resource aims at bringing positive change in the attitudes and behaviours of the young children with obesity by promoting healthy lifestyle and the nutritional diet for them. Summary From the report published by Health & Social care Information centre on ‘Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: 2014’ that the rate of obesity in young children is increasing at a rapid pace in the UK. Statistically, during the year 1995, 11% boys and 12% girls of 2-15 years old were obese, which increased dramatically to 18%-19% for both boys and girls during the year 2004-2005 (Lifestyles statistics team, 2014). At the same time, the ratio of young children with obesity is determined to be increasing rapidly in the UK, which is a major factor of concern the UK’s society. Besides, the role of parents is extremely important for changing the lifestyle and diet habits of their children. Thus, directing the message to these target audience group is anticipated to result in significant impact on changing the attitudes and behaviours of young children with obesity. In addition, addressing this target group would have positive impact on the generation to come with respect to the epidemic of obesity. In this regard, it is important to mention the resource communicates the risks associated with the obesity and its consequences related to physiological and psychological aspects. Furthermore, the resource highlights the importance and role of lifestyle, physical activities and healthy diet towards dealing with the epidemic of obesity in young children. The resource also identifies the various programs already implemented by the various government bodies in the UK towards reducing the consequences of obesity and promoting the health of the young children. Besides, the resource include the strengths and weaknesses of these programs associated with their effectiveness in dealing with the obesity in young children. References Croker, H. & et. al., 2012.Cluster-Randomised Trial to Evaluate the ‘Change for Life’ Mass Media/ Social Marketing Campaign in the UK. BMC Public Health, Vol.12, pp. 1-14. Ellison, J., 2013. Reducing Obesity and Improving Diet. Department of Health. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-obesity-and-improving-diet [Accessed November 24, 2014]. Lifestyles statistics team, 2014. Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England 2014. Health and Social Care Information Centre. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13648/Obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2014-rep.pdf[Accessed November 24, 2014]. Lifestyle statistics team, 2013. National Child Measurement Programme: England, 2012/13 School Year. Health and Social Care Information Centre. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13115/nati-chil-meas-prog-eng-2012-2013-rep.pdf [Accessed November 24, 2014]. Rudolf, M., 2010.Tackling Obesity through the Healthy Child Programme a Framework for Action. Leeds Community Healthcare. [Online] Available at: http://www.noo.org.uk/uploads/doc/vid_4865_rudolf_TacklingObesity1_210110.pdf [Accessed November 24, 2014]. Ryley, A., 2012. Children’s BMI, Overweight and Obesity.HSE 2012, Vol. 1, pp. 1-22. Read More