Analysis of a Particular Approach According to the Tooty Fruity Vegie Project - Essay Example

?Analysis of a Particular Approach According To "The Tooty Fruity Vegie Project" In the recent times, the community development has emerged as one ofthe highly discussed areas locally and internationally. In general, community development is firmly related with bringing changes within a community through the combined initiatives of people towards performing certain activities to achieve a shared goal. The community development usually tends to benefit the ordinary people (Community Development Cymru, n.d.). Additionally, the genuine community development endeavours aim to fulfil the need for empowerment, transformation and the participation of the people belonging to all sections of the society in strengthening their ability to demand better services and accountability from the government and other stakeholders. In Australia as well as in other more advanced countries, the communities are largely concerned about the increasing rate of childhood obesity. It has often been argued that the issue of childhood obesity is accompanied with a wide range of health problems emerging in childhood and in later adult life. It has been ascertained that obesity occurs from an imbalance between energy or the food consumed and exhausted. It was further identified that choices about eating and exercise may get distorted, if proper information relating to healthy eating habits is not easily available. Additionally, it has been perceived that the implications or outcomes related with obesity will have much radical impacts on the community. It is observed that the increasing rate of obesity among children will contribute towards increasing health costs (Crowle & Turner, 2010). In this regard, the choice of food items consumed by human beings is usually determined by taste. In this context, some food items are bitter while some others are sour. Nonetheless, the consumption of all kinds of food is necessary for a balanced diet. At the same time, encouraging children to consume all kinds of food products in order to promote diversity is often a very problematic task. Encouraging children to consume a variety of food products can be argued to be education-based. Nutrition education generally consists of the description of information related with foods about their nutritional contents. Concurrently, the Tooty Fruity Vegie (TFV) project is a vital mechanism through which children can be introduced to different foods. It is a health promotion program which intends to augment fruit and vegetable intake among the primary school children. Correspondingly, the long-term goals of the program has been to reduce heart disease and obesity in the community by promoting and motivating primary school children to embrace healthy eating habit early in life. In the course of executing this program, TFV project has used a whole-of-school approach in implementing strategies for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in a few selected schools (Newell & et. al., 2004). Correspondingly, this essay intends to explore the behaviour change theory in accordance with TFV project. Finally, the essay will further analyse children’s fruit along with vegetables knowledge and attitude, parents’ involvement in the fruit and vegetable activities as well as teachers’ attitude towards teaching to children about fruits and vegetables. The importance of influencing behaviour in order to achieve favourable outcomes has been widely recognised. The behavioural change models are being used in multiple contexts such as sustainable consumption and climate change. It can be argued that behavioural models and theories of behavioural change cannot significantly produce behaviour changes nor can they predict the changes that may occur in an individual (Prager & et. al., 2012). Behaviour change theory structures may be used by health educators to systematically design educational programs in order to the measure the effectiveness of the programs. It has been argued that not one theory is efficient enough to address all the variables that describe a person’s behaviour and not all the theories are acceptable at all situations. At the same time, it has been ascertained that the combined theories may often contribute towards creating a tailored program for certain specific issues and for a certain target population (Frost, 2008). It has been observed that during the course of inclusive health education efforts, health educators are encountered with several challenges that may hinder and act as an obstacle for the success of the health programs. It has been argued that the prevention of health related fatal consequences can be achieved through health education, which is quite a complex task. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the health education programs, it is essential for health educators to target the multiple causes of the diseases and it is equally important to stress on the prevailing social circumstances. In this regard, it has been postulated that health education is not only concerned with the communication of information, but also nurturing the motivation skills and confidence required for taking required action to improve health. Moreover, it has been identified that health education comprises the communication of information related with underlying components of social, economic and environmental facets that influence the health of an individual. It has been observed that a majority of professionals are closely linking health education and health promotion as a tool for ascertain changes in public health. Contextually, the whole-of-school approach used under TFV project can be argued to be a strong initiative towards promoting health through health education (World Health Organisation, 2012). In other words, the health promotion is related with improving health by seeking to affect lifestyles and health facilities. It has been stated that health promotion comprises different disciplines. Accordingly, many authorities have argued that health promotion entails three primary components namely health education, health protection and prevention. In this context, a model of health promotion is being illustrated below: A Model of Health Promotion (World Health Organisation, 2012) Contextually, it has been identified that currently health educators use various planning theories and models for the purpose of health promotion. These theories and models can be categorised as the rational choice theory, the health belief model, the extended parallel process model, the transtheoritical model of change, the theory of planned behaviour, the activated health education model, social cognitive theory, communication theory and diffusion of innovation theory. However, among these theories and models, the first six are often argued as the most common theories that are widely used by health educators in the current scenario. Scott (2000) admitted that people in the present world act rationally. Accordingly, it has been ascertained that rational choice theory in sociology is based on the idea that all the actions are primarily rational in terms of characteristics wherein people tend to calculate the potential costs and benefits of any action prior to deciding an act to be performed. Under this theory, health education strategies fundamentally target certain groups of people and seek to encourage good health behaviour choices along with preventing undesirable health behaviours (Scott, 2000). Burke (n.d.) affirmed that the health belief model is an interpersonal theory used in health promotion to design intervention and prevention programs. The author highlighted that the prime focus of health belief model has been to assess the health behaviour of an individual through the examination of perceptions and attitudes that may be practiced by someone towards diseases and negative outcomes of certain actions. Accordingly, it has been affirmed that an individual should evaluate his/her perceptions of susceptibility as well as severity of developing a diseases. Furthermore, the model emphasises that an individual should feel threatened by such perceptions. It has been argued that environmental factors as well as cues to action like television ads or caring relatives can have a significant impact on the perceptions of an individual (Burke, n.d.). The diagram below reveals the health belief model containing all the elements essential for behaviour change: The Health Belief Model (Burke, n.d.). Maloney & et. al. (2011) claimed that the extended parallel process model is a message design theory that offers a framework for efficient and effective communication of health and risks-related information. Accordingly, it has been ascertained that the extended parallel process model offers an explanatory framework to resolve seemingly unpredictable findings regarding the fear appeal in the past and it also propagates the several reasons behind the failure of fear appeal. The extended parallel process model defines threat, as danger or harm that might exist in the prevailing environment irrespective of the fact that an individual is aware or not. Accordingly, the theory assumes that perceived threats motivate a person to perform a specific action and in that course message conveyed to people directly affects the threat perceptions and successfully convinces the recipient that the perceived threat may have a severe consequence on them (Maloney & et. al., 2011). The pictorial diagram of the model is illustrated below: The Extended Parallel Process Model (Maloney & et. al., 2011) Lenio (2006) affirmed that the transtheoritical model is a theory of intentional change that largely emphasise decision making ability of an individual instead of focusing on social or biological impacts on their behaviour. It has been further identified that the transtheoritical model comprises stages and processes of change, self-efficacy and decisional balance. Accordingly, it has been ascertained that self-efficacy and balanced decision making are central aspects to this theory (Lenio, 2006). It has been ascertained that under this theory of behaviour change, people move through five different stages namely ‘precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance’. Accordingly, behavioural intervention is designed to meet the needs of an individual at every stage (Lenio, 2006). These stages are identified below: Stages In Transtheoritical Model (Parmar & Taylor, 2010) Revis & Sheeran (2011) admitted that the theory of planned behaviour is one of the most influential theories for predicting social and health behaviours. Consequently, it has been stated that this theory is the extension of theory of reasoned action. It has been recognised that the theory consists of both social impacts and the personal elements as predictors. In addition, the social impacts are conceptualised in terms of the pressure an individual perceives from other important individuals to perform or to not perform a particular behaviour (Revis & Sheeran, 2003). The Theory of Planned Behaviour (Parmar & Taylor, 2010) In accordance with the ideations made by Dennision & Golaszewski (2002), it is revealed that the activated health education model primarily focuses upon changing the health behaviour of people. Accordingly, it has been ascertained that the activated health theory can be applied in multiple settings. However, it has been observed that the greatest utility of the model has been witnessed in the school health perspective. It is worth mentioning that the activated health education model is generally based upon group learning and a range of activities performed over a period of time. It has been argued that other models and theories offer health educators with program planning but the activated health education offers health educators with a practical framework for deciding the type of work to be performed as well as it renders the educators pertinent knowledge about when to perform (Dennision & Golaszewski, 2002). In the similar context, the TFV applied a whole-of-school approach to review the behavioural changes amid the primary school children to develop healthy eating habits. It can be argued that the approach undertaken by TFV firmly resembles the behavioural change theories and models to a large extent. It is worth mentioning that TFV project was initiated as a two-year health promotion program with an aim to increase the fruit and vegetable consumption among the primary school children in the North Coast of New South Wales (NSW). Accordingly, the TFV project intended to reduce heart disease and obesity in the community through bringing behaviour changes amid the primary school children. Additionally, the TFV project after the completion of its programs embraced great success in terms of promoting healthy eating habits among the target population i.e. the primary school children. The TFV project was duly involved in promoting evidence based dietary health promotion messages for changing the behaviour of primary school children to consume enough fruits and vegetables. In the course of promoting health education, the project also strongly communicated the ill- effects of in-taking inadequate food habits. Accordingly, the project also postulated that the consequences of improper diet can contribute towards making children vulnerable to several health concerns such as cancers, cardiovascular and coronary diseases. In keeping with the rational choice theory, the project was primarily based on selecting the specific target population in order to promote positive health behaviour and thereby prevent negative health behaviour choices. The TFV project also intended to strongly influence the eating habits of primary school children by introducing fruit and vegetable activities. The project also aims to influence the behaviours of parents, teachers, school canteens and most importantly the broader community to encourage healthy eating habits amid primary school children. According to rational change theory of behaviour, the TFV project, behind its programs for promoting healthy eating habits in primary school children, intends to prevent the fatal consequences arising from the improper diet habits (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2013). The health belief model of the behaviour theories claims to describe the community health decision making perspective and the subsequent behaviour. The TFV project, accordingly considers that childhood obesity in Australia has been accompanied with several health related problems that tend to have emerging effects in childhood as well as in later adult life. Accordingly, the TFV project postulates that the health related problems are largely associated with the behaviour inherent in children to consume imbalanced food items. The TFV project in relation to health belief model was intended to communicate the positive eating habits and promote attitudinal changes in primary school children focusing on the notion that eating fruit and vegetables every day keeps an individual healthy (Newell & et. al., 2004). On the other hand, behavioural change theory of the extended parallel process model emphasises to identify the aspect that whether the target population are susceptible to the threat identified and it also measures the severity of the threat identified. Accordingly, the TFV project has ascertained that children are more vulnerable to acquire diseases such as cardiovascular and coronary disease arising from the improper diet habits. Therefore, the TFV project identifies if proper eating habit is not practiced by children, it may have a severe subsequent impact on them. Contextually, the TFV project recommends primary school children to change their behaviour towards consuming more fruits and vegetables in order to avoid any negative consequences arising thereon from the imbalanced eating practices. Moreover, fruit and vegetable intervention was designed under the TFV project for preventing the above stated diseases among the primary school children (Newell & et. al., 2004). The transtherotical model of behavioural change emphasises that people have certain specific information needs in the course of seeking behavioural change. Contextually, this information need of people has a significant role to play in implementing effective intervention strategies for changing their behaviour. In the similar context, the TFV projects aims at communicating crucial information related with imbalanced food consumption by primary school children. Moreover, the TFV project familiarises children and their parents regarding the obesity and cardiovascular diseases as well as the contribution of imbalanced food consumption towards these health problems (Newell & et. al., 2004). Furthermore, the TFV project entailed many strategies in order to maximise its sustainability including changing the environment for promoting fruits and vegetables consumption at home as well as in school settings. These strategies were targeted to enhance knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes of children, parents and teachers regarding fruits and vegetables intake (Adams, 2003). In relation to the intervention strategies for promoting increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in primary school children, the TFV project has formulated three broad strategies namely classroom-oriented strategies, parent-oriented strategies, school canteen-oriented strategies and sustainability–oriented strategies. It is worth mentioning that all these strategies were intended to change the behaviour of primary school children towards promoting healthy eating practices amid them (The State of Victoria, 2013). Accordingly, the classroom-oriented strategies emphasise training of teachers through the national Nutrition Education in School programs. The classroom-oriented strategies also included Classroom Activity Manuals in order to promote innovative ways of teaching regarding the positive eating habits concerning the consumptions of increasing fruits and vegetables. These strategies were tailored for different age groups of children particularly for those in between 2-6 years. These strategies also offered teachers with additional resources concerning fruit and vegetable consumption learning activities within the school curriculum. Websites containing posters on fruits and vegetables related information were also widely used to influence the behaviours of teachers and students in the course of promoting healthy eating practices (Newell & et. al., 2004). Similarly, the parent-oriented strategies consisted of cooking classes for making the parents aware of healthy eating practices which were intended to facilitate the changes in the behaviour of the children to consume more and more fruits and vegetables so that any ill-consequences arising from imbalanced consumptions of food can be avoided and prevented amid the primary school children. As a component of parent-oriented strategies to promote healthy eating among their children, newsletter articles were also prepared by TFV and were duly distributed. As a part of school environment-oriented strategies, the TFV has also initiated appraisal and feedback relating with fruits and vegetables in lunchboxes. The project has also introduced fruits and vegetables tasting at school events. Similarly, as a part of sustainability–oriented strategies, TFV has also involved many community as well as health support staff for facilitating healthy food eating behaviours among the primary school children. Accordingly, all the above stated strategies were focused on the theory of planned behaviour which was aimed at developing good eating practices and abandoning imbalanced consumption of food items. In relation to activated health education model, the TFV assessed that the current eating practices are usually associated with imbalanced consumption of foods that have made children prone to many diseases (Newell & et. al., 2004). Moreover, the analysis of the behaviour change theory in accordance with the TFV project revealed that the strategies undertaken by it were progressively implemented and were duly received. Accordingly, the strategies implemented by the TFV significantly contribute towards improving the knowledge of children concerning fruits and vegetables. These strategies also remark significant changes in the children’s behaviour and attitude towards the increasing consumptions of fruits and vegetables. At the same time, these strategies also boast parents’ required knowledge and sought greater involvement in promoting fruits and vegetables activities amid the primary school children. In addition to parents’ support, the vital assistance from teachers was also ascertained. It was determined that these strategies can cause considerable extent of positive changes in the terms of access to fruits and vegetables amid children at home as well as these strategies encourage them to intake greater amount of fruits and vegetables (Newell & et. al., 2004). The table below depicts the changes in children related with fruits and vegetables consumption: Source: (Newell & et. al., 2004) Accordingly, it was ascertained that younger children were more influenced by the fruits and vegetables activities than older children. It was further identified that a large number of children were consuming vegetable items with their meals than prior to the intervention of TFV project. At the same time, it was observed that the result for girl children were more positive than the boy children. In the similar context, it was found that children at their homes have more fruits than it was before. It can be firmly admitted that the influence of the TFV strategies were not limited to children’s homes only but these strategies also have had a significant impact on the school environment as well. Moreover, the impact of the TFV fruits and vegetables strategies was also remarkable on children’s parents. It was further identified that school parents recommended their children to intake two serves of fruit daily. A relatively large group of parents admitted that the TFV project has made easier for them to promote fruits and vegetables to their children. It was determined that parents were extremely keen to assist the promotion of fruit and vegetable activities in cooking classes in school. Correspondingly, most of the volunteers positively responded to the TFV project and its activities than other school activities. However, concerning the impact of fruit and vegetable initiative on teachers, it has been observed that teachers were highly motivated to teach children about fruits and vegetables. However, a few teachers were not interested in TFV project and felt that motivating children to eat fruits and vegetables was predominately the responsibility of parents of school going children and not a school’s responsibility (Newell & et. al., 2004). Finally, it can be argued that the TFV project offered an exciting opportunity in order to improve children’s fruits and vegetables related knowledge, attitudes as well as make preparation skills both at home along with in school setting (Miller & et. al., 2001). It can be firmly stated that the TFV project was able to influence the behaviour of a majority of its target population. It was observed that after the intervention of TFV strategies children were able to inculcate significant knowledge about fruits and vegetables. The TFV strategies facilitated in enhancing the quality and frequency within the classroom related to fruit and vegetable promoting events. These events can be attributed to significant health benefits to children in the long-term perspective including a significant reduction in several diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular ailments and diabetes (Newell & et. al., 2004). References Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2013. Tooty Fruity Vegie program. Overview. [Online] Available at: http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/programs-projects?pid=313 [Accessed June 23, 2013]. Adams, J. K., 2003. The Tooty Fruity Vegie Project: Collaboration between Education, Health and the Community. Health Education Australia, Vol. 3, pp. 17-21. Burke, E., No Date. The Health Belief Model. The Pennsylvania State University. [Online] Available at: http://www.personal.psu.edu/eab5160/blogs/the_professional_e-portfolio_of_evan_burke/The%20Health%20Belief%20Model.pdf [Accessed June 23, 2013]. 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