Preventing Childhood Illnesses by Healthy Eating - Essay Example

?CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1.2 Overview...............................................................................................................1 1.3 Business Case......................................................................................... ............1 1.4 Background…………………...............................................................................2 1.5 Project Outcome/Deliverables..............................................................................3 1.6 Stakeholders Analysis...........................................................................................4 1.7 Time frames………………………………………………………………..……..5 1.8 Action plan............................................................................................................5 1.9 Resource Allocations............................................................................................5 1.10 Risk Analysis .................................................................................................6 1.11 Business Case Evaluation...............................................................................9 1.12 References………………………………………………………..…………..10 1.13 Appendixes; 1.13.1 Appendix a; Questionnaire………………..………………………….11 1.13.2 Appendix b; Gantt chart for the business case……….………………12 1.13.3 Resource Allocation List……………………………………..………13 1.13.4 Risk Assessment chart………………………………….…….………14 1.1 Introduction Nutritional awareness is becoming one of the major factors influencing the consumption habits of most of the female students in Saudi’s High schools. Notwithstanding the external influences in the eating habits of the students there is an increase in complications of this particular segment associated with their eating habits. The major aim of this project will be to prevent childhood illnesses and the major hindrance to this is lack of awareness of the healthy eating. This action plan is designed to change the eating decisions of the female students in Saudi Arabia to consume more healthy foods. 1.2 Overview Healthy eating is a global concern in relation to rising obesity rates (world health organization) and in particular healthy eating awareness is a priority in Saudi Arabia (Barker and Cole, 2009). The knowledge of healthy diets among female high school students is inadequate; a study done in 2005 (Al-shammari, 2001) revealed 65.2% had little or no knowledge on healthy eating habits. It is known that there could be several factors behind this (Al-rukban, 2003). For example there could be lack of education about nutrients, and/or unavailability of health information in schools (Al-shammari, 2001). This requires a thorough explanation of the benefits and ways of maintaining healthy bodies. Furthermore Al-rukban has shown that (2003) knowledge of the effects of poor eating habits could be a factor in influencing young people and in this case students as they change their eating habits and thus reduce their exposure to ailments associated to malnutrition. 1.3 Business Case Unhealthy lifestyles are the major contributors of the medical conditions in the world and also in Saudi Arabia (world health organization). Some health related behaviors like poor dietary habits, substance use and exercise patterns are most visible in adolescent level and could persist into adulthood (Caldwell et.al, 1998). Obesity is however the most persistent problem affecting this age group i.e. adolescents and young people, this is due to their tendency of eating junk and fast foods (Caldwel et.al, 1998). Due to this perceived problem in the school there is a case to support the introduction of a nutritional programme in schools to create awareness to the female students. The following perceived aims for developing a business case could be; To help improve the perception of healthy dietary habits among participating students, this will lead to improved eating habits awareness in the future. To give moral support to the students affected by the nutrition related complications and give advice on the best ways to manage their conditions. These lessons would increase the awareness of nutrition related complications and also correct the inaccurate information in the schools. The information acquired would also be disseminated to their parents, relatives and friends thus having an impact to the society at large. To encourage the students to seek careers in health and nutritional fields. To extend the nutritional education across all students in the society after the success of the initial project. To expound on the importance of physical exercises to try and reduce the cases of medical complications derived by lack of exercises. The major emphasis should be put in the education curriculum in addition to the health promotions and disease prevention concepts and strategies. This will be mainly done through lectures, training sessions, small group discussions, role-playing, pamphlets and booklets from the school. This will be helpful since the teachers alone cannot held responsible for the improvement of the students knowledge and behavior, other stakeholders like parents, community, mass media, food industry should also play their role to ensure general nutritional knowledge is improved. Since there is a presence of paucity of nutritional information among high school females in Saudi Arabia on their nutritional status, eating habits and the underlying influences, and the impact of nutrition intervention in female students. It is thus necessary to include the area of health education and information about healthy eating habits and lifestyles to the school programme in different forms e.g. lessons and training sessions. 1.4 Background The lack of nutritional education in Saudi’s curriculum has greatly increased the importance of student’s awareness venture. Currently there is only one lesson in the science curriculum which looks at the effects associated with fatty or junk foods. In the recent past there has been an increase in importation by many companies taking advantage of the untapped market thus increasing the varieties of the commodities of which their nutritional compositions and benefits are unknown by the students. This clearly shows that there is a major challenge in the society, and due to uninformed young people they tend to be the most affected by poor eating habits. The activities are intended to begin at the beginning of normal learning sessions are expected to continue throughout the year. The teachers will select the group for the first session and the others will be trained in the successive groups. The lessons will be conducted by a dietician and later after the lessons are over the awareness levels will be tested by the use of questionnaires. They will be advantageous due to their nature of analysis and thus give the trend in the learning. 1.5 Project Outcome/Deliverables If this project is implemented an assessment mechanism will be used to determine the success of the project, some of the expected benefits would be; I. There will be an increase in the awareness of the recommended eating habits; this will be tested at the end of each learning semester through questionnaires. Since it a norm for Saudi schools to provide two hours for activity lessons this could be used for discussions in groups on the nutritional issues. It is also expected that the use of print media will also help students who may not be able to start the lessons to read them privately to achieve the expected outcome. II. Since there are a lot of inadequate information in the society at large mainly due to an increase in foreign foods. This will be one of the areas the project is expected to shed more light. III. A mechanism for observing the changes in the eating habits of the school will be observed by the school through its canteens and an analysis of the trends will be made to conclude on the impact of these lessons of the eating habits. IV. The introduction of programmes and games related to nutrition will yield considerable grounds in the fight against lack of information. An essay competition will also be introduced to all the students to compete for a prize of the best article, this will enable them undertake private research on health related issues and understand them. V. After the analysis of the findings in the first stage the recommendations will be given to the stakeholders and the necessary adjustments made to the project to increase its efficiency in disseminating information to the female students. 1.6 Stakeholders Analysis The project boundaries were defined according to what was suggested by Barker and Cole (2009), he has shaped this project when it comes to determining the stakeholders who should be included in the project. This was basically to allow the stakeholders understand the project details right from the start. It is also designed to increase the awareness of the activities to be implemented in the project thus giving all the stakeholders an opportunity to get their issues addressed. They include; Two dieticians and the manager of dietary and nutrition department at King Saud hospital. Female students aged 15-18 years at the school of interest. Supervisory teacher and head teacher. Ministry of health. Parents of participating students. All the plans and timetables for the project will be known by these stakeholders and the following measures will be taken; i. The involvement of the dieticians and their manager is to be agreed by the management of King Saud Hospital. ii. An agreement between the programme developers, dieticians and the school head teacher are to sign and agree on the programme outline and time scale. iii. An agreement to be signed between the school and the local food and drinks companies for the provision of free samples of local healthy foods ( such as milk, juices and fruits) to distribute to all students during the dieticians presentations. iv. An agreement to be sighed between the parents of the participating students giving them permission to participate to the project. 1.7 Time Scales The time scales for this project will start with the selection of dieticians from July 2012, with the actual project being carried out from September 2012 to June 2013. Please see attached Gantt chart, appendix b. 1.8 Action plan The project will start at the beginning of the school year with a brief introduction in a school assembly by the head teacher. Nutrition questionnaires will be issued to all students; they will play an important role of identifying the training needs of the students. The results of those questionnaires will be analyzed and a training needs assessment register created with specific areas the students need training. A group of students from each level of study will be selected to begin the lessons in the first semester while the rest of the students will be selected in the respective semesters so that by the end of the project all the students in the school would have participated in the project. At the last stage of the project questionnaires will be issued to all students to measure their level of awareness. After the project is completed the report will be submitted to stakeholders and since this is an initial project if the results are positive then it would be applied to other schools in the country to achieve similar results. 1.9 Resource Allocations The resources needed in the implementation phase of this project would be provided by the concerned stakeholders, and any adjustments will be made whenever necessary. The following schedule outlines a brief lift of resources pledged by the stakeholders. Estimated Project Costs; Resources Quantities Costs (Pounds) Students time 42 hours n/a Dietician time 48 hours n/a Paper 2 reams of paper, each containing 500 sheets of paper, including certificates 10 Ink 2 cartridges of ink 30 Transport n/a 15 Brochures 120 Free from ministry offices Sum Totals 55 The cost of the dietician is part of their monthly wage, so for the purpose of this project there will be no extra costs. Dieticians will be encouraged to take part in this project by offering an incentive to taking the remaining of the day off after school. Resources needed for this project will be provided by the stakeholders, each stakeholder will have a set of resources to provide for this success of this project (See appendix c). Item Resources to Provide Dieticians and Hospital Management Lesson guidance and supervision Provision of all nutrient related materials Report and results analysis School and Teachers Allocation of training time i.e. provision of training time table Sourcing for support from corporate sponsors in the locality Moral support to students, fellow teachers and parents through out the project 1.10 Risk Analysis A risk assessment of the project will be done to identify the pros and cons of the project. This assessment will address the potential risks which might limit the success of the project. A risk matrix was used to determine the associated risks when carrying out the project. After all data was collected the factors supporting and those against were evaluated to determine the credibility of the project. The analysis is described below; Advantages Disadvantages 1) There will be a general increase in the awareness of sound dietary behaviors this students will be able to make informed eating decisions 2) The support of the stakeholders in the project will impact the general society positively. 3) There will be a long term reduction of the nutrition related complications in the school. 4) The students with dietary problems will be assisted and advised on the effective measures for healthy living. 5) The school will incorporate nutrition lessons in their studies. 6) The knowledge got by the students will be disseminated to their family, friends and relatives. 7) The increase in awareness of healthy living will influence the decisions of the students even beyond the school life. 8) The analysis of the information about the project can be helpful to future researchers and similar projects in the future. 9) There would be an increase in the students enrolling in health and nutritional related subjects. 1) The project might not achieve the intended purpose. 2) The information given by the dieticians could not be satisfactory due to the limited time available for the lessons. 3) Some students may give bias information in the questionnaires and thus making it unreliable. 4) Financial constrains could be a hindering factor for the smooth implementation of the project. 1.11 Business Case Evaluation There are several ways in which an evaluation could take place; most evaluations are done at the end of the project. However the best way of evaluating a project will be to determine whether or not the outcomes were achieved (Martin, 2002). For the purpose of this project the dietician will now closely monitor the progression of the students during the weekly meetings. This will be done in a continual manner and documented to enable a conclusive report of all the changes in the project. Evaluation benchmark has been put in place and it will be followed strictly to ensure that the project is a success. The evaluation would be done at the end of the project; however there would be several other activities which would monitor the process of learning. The dieticians would be engaged in frequent discussions with the students on a weekly basis. The overall impact will be done by comparing the awareness levels at the beginning and at the end of the project using the respective questionnaires. References Al-Rukban M, O. (2003). Obesity among Saudi Male Adolescents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J. 24(1), pp 27-33. Al-Shammari S, A., Khoja T, A, & Gad A.(2001). Community-based study of Obesity among children and adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Food Nutrition Bull. (22), pp178-183. Caldwell D., Nestle M., & Rogers W. (1998). School Nutrition services. In: Marx E, Frelick W, Northrop D, (editors). Health is academic: a guide to coordinated school health programs. 1st ed. Teacher College Press, pp. 195-197. Nicklas T, A., Johnson C., Myers L., Farris R, P., & Cunningham A. (1998). Outcomes of a high school program to increase fruit and vegetable consumption: Gimme 5—a fresh nutrition concept for students. J Sch Health. 68(6), pp248-53. Wehling A, K, & McCarthy M. (2002). A healthy lifestyle program: promoting child health in schools. J Sch Nurs. 18(6), pp 322-8. World Health Organization: World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. Geneva, Switzerland. Martin, V. (2002) Managing Projects in Health and Social Care. London & New York: Routledge. 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