Obesity prevention in children
Obesity prevention in children is an issue that has piqued my interest since I was a child. In Canada, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Obesity in children is one of the leading causes of health problems. Overweight children are more likely to remain obese as adults, making them more vulnerable to non-transferable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease at a younger age. Obesity is thought to be a condition caused by a variety of factors, including lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and social status. Overweight occurs as a result of a high calorie intake, excessive sugar intake from soda, a lack of activity, and fat admission. When a child is overweight, his self-esteem as social health is affected. It also leads to poor grades in school.
Project background and description
To put the necessary interventions to the debate of childhood obesity, I started up the organization “kick obesity out of Canada” in 2008. Through this project, I am determined to reduce the cases of childhood obesity. Over the past five years of the existence of my project, I have worked with over fifty schools in the country where I have run campaigns against childhood obesity. I have found that the issue of childhood obesity is more popular in places of low socioeconomic status because of such factors as unavailability of exercising grounds, poor diets, lack of the right medical care and parents are too busy to engage their children in exercises. With such frameworks, the schools face high cases of indiscipline and poor performance academically. As children start joining public schools at six years old, this is the ideal chance to come up with a way of kicking out obesity (Merchant et al., 2007).
Statement of Need
Approximately one-third of people in Canada between five and seventeen years are obese. Despite that the obesity increase rate has been slow in Canadian children; the issue of overweight has remained a main public concern. The World Health Organization states that 31.5% of children between five and seventeen years who are approximately 1.6 million Canadians were ranked as obese between 2009 and 2011 (“31% Of Canadian Kids Are Overweight,” 2012). Nevertheless, there was a difference between boys and girls with boys taking 15.2% and girls 8.0%. This shows how the issue of obesity has been a pandemic in the country (Roberts et al., 2017).
The main group that this outreach project is targeting
The main group that this outreach project is targeting is the children in primary schools who are below seventeen years. The causes of obesity and overweight are believed to be mostly poor nutritional diets and lack of exercise. The risk factors associated with obesity are high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular complications, low self-esteem, poor socialization skills, and poor performance in school among others (Rodd, & Sharma 2016). Children from poor backgrounds are the most prevalent group, and they exhibit a number of the risk elements due to their poor living conditions. If this project is not carried out, children at risk of suffering from obesity will not be able to learn about ways of preventing the obesity. The fact that “kick obesity out of Canada” goes to schools implies that we reach many children who are at high risk of being obese (Rodd & Sharma 2017).
Goals and Objectives
To reduce the cases of childhood obesity as such reducing medical costs in families and allowing them to carry other projects.
To help the children understand fully about healthy lifestyle works. Many kids do not know the importance of exercising and healthy eating. This will minimize their prevalence of obesity, and they will be able to lead a sedentary lifestyle in future.
With our program kids and their parents can work together to create to enable children and their parents to work together in creating a healthy lifestyle.
To improve the performance of children in schools, therefore, guaranteeing them better future.
To deal with the esteem issues of children, make sure they regain their confidence through weight loss and walk with them the journey of restoring their body mass index.
Methods and Strategies
The project is innovative as it will go past the restrictions of the schools to deal with the physical as well as the nutritional needs of the students. As opposed to focusing entirely on classwork, the children will be able to find fun outside as they exercise. We will create a before and after class program for the elementary kids. We will create a before/ after school program that begins with elementary aged children (Shang et al., 2014). This will be a bonus that willing parents will be able to sign and pay during the start of the academic year. The program will be mainly focused on training a higher level of physical education and skill development paired with teaching children how to grow food and then prepare healthy dishes. There would be three groups divided by age and ability. Pre and post assessment will include;
- evaluation of the physical changes upon completion of one year in comparison to students who were not enrolled in the class as well as their expertise in healthy nutrition.
- Discipline rates
- Academic performance
- The correlation between exercise, discipline rates and academic performance of the students
- The physical improvements in strength, speed, and cardiovascular endurance post program
Plan of evaluation
The organization will set up a management team made up of one parent, one teacher, an experienced finance expert and myself. This team will give an end year evaluation for every year during the progress of the project. The evaluation reports will give an analytical comparison of the activities carried out, the participation of the students, the improvements made and the performance scores (NLC, 2001). The report will assess if the program has achieved the stated goals and objectives. All projects undertaken will be examined, and proposals will be made for any needed modifications. The program will identify the impact of the program on the kids and the community at large. On receiving the reports, the management will be able to gauge the impact of the project and come up with strategies for addressing any issues raised. We will set up a grants management team which will be in charge of the funds for the project, purchase needed reading materials and administer the program. The management team will also establish a mission and vision for the project and take care of the administrative roles. To motivate the children, we will be rewarding the best performers with some gifts.
Budget
Item Cost
- Overheads $350
- Office space $750
- Equipment $245
- Travel $200
- Personnel $450
Total: $1995
Conclusion
This project will bring the much-anticipated change in our children. The students will be able to spend their time after classes constructively and learn many skills like healthy eating which in turn will lead to their healthy lifestyle. Teaching the students on the preparation of healthy meals will be an added advantage. Eventually, this program will lead to reduced cases of obesity.
References
31% Of Canadian Kids Are Overweight Or Obese (Sep 20, 2012), CBCNews. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/31-of-canadian-kids-are-overweight-or-obese-1.1154456
Merchant, A. T., Dehghan, M., Behnke-Cook, D., & Anand, S. S. (2007). Diet, Physical Activity, And Adiposity In Children In Poor And Rich Neighborhoods: A Cross-Sectional Comparison. Nutrition Journal, 61-7. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-6-1
National Library of Canada (NLC), (2001) Guide to Making Federal Acts and Regulations. Retrieved from http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/docs/information/publications/legislation/pdf-eng.pdf
Roberts k., Shields M., Groh M., Aziz A. & Gilbert J (2017) Overweight And Obesity In Children And Adolescents: Results from the 2009 to 2011 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Statistics Canada. Retrieved from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2012003/article/11706-eng.htm
Rodd, C., & Sharma, A. K. (2016). Recent Trends In The Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity Among Canadian Children. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 188(13), E313-E320. doi:10.1503/cmaj.150854
Rodd, C., & Sharma, A. K. (2017). Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity In Canadian Children, 2004 To 2013: Impact Of Socioeconomic Determinants. Paediatrics & Child Health (1205-7088), 22(3), 153-158.
Shang, L., O’Loughlin, J., Tremblay, A., & Gray-Donald, K. (2014). The Association Between Food Patterns And Adiposity Among Canadian Children At Risk Of Overweight. Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism, 39(2), 195-201. doi:10.1139/apnm-2012-0392
