Public Health Program Planning Assignment | Custom Homework Help
Define the theory, model, constructs, concepts, and variables that will be used in your program. Why were these constructs selected? How will the noted constructs impact your targeted population? Do you have key considerations around your selection?
My program topic is Childhood Obesity Prevention in the city of Miami, Florida. The theory that I am thinking to use in establishing the obesity prevention program is the homeostatic obesity theory. Please see attached documents for information about the program.
Public Health Program Planning & Evaluation
Childhood Obesity Intervention
Student name
Institution
Abstract
Despite considerable research on obesity control programs in schools, it is not comprehensible how widely they are distributed. Obesity in children has been a significant challenge globally; furthermore, the problems that arise in childhood in most cases, persist to adulthood and are detrimental. Therefore interventions for prevention and cure of obesity are vital aspects of public health. Some of the measures involve habit change among all stakeholders, policy changes in education programs, and the surroundings. The intervention program will actively be headed by individuals with expertise in public health and nutrition and is expected to address the need to prioritize proper diet and exercise. During the intervention, a multi-strategy approach will be employed to ensure all critical aspects required to bear fruits are captured to ensure that by December 2021, the number of obese children reduces remarkably.
There are several intervention programs carried out in the whole of the United States to combat obesity. However, it is not clear how much impact they have on the fight against obesity. Examples of such intervention programs that have been successful include;” Eat Well Play hard initiative” and the “5-2-1-0 obesity intervention program” from which we will borrow a leaf to make our intervention program better. In the 5-2-1-0 plan, the food is filtered, the time spent on watching is reduced, and instead, exercise is allocated more time. It is a program that emphasized self-discipline among individuals in terms of what activity is given more time, which types of food to be taken, and those to avoid altogether (Katz et al., 2008). The program was initiated in several states in the United States of America and deemed a success. The significant aspects of the program borrowed in this particular intervention include; disciplined food selection, increased time for physical activities, and reduced idle time for watching; however, our intervention advocates explicitly for the practice of the mentioned activities among children with the help of parents and teachers.
Reducing overweight and obesity among children is singled out as one of the ten significant public health essential aspects to deal with. Among ten children in the US, two are obese, a situation that requires urgent attention. Weighing higher than your body can carry has in itself severe impacts on the individual from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. Children with obesity tend to become obese adults. Obesity is the primary cause of diabetes type 2 in children other than genetic factors associated with the condition (Messiah et al. 2013). Individuals with this condition also suffer several mental illnesses caused by low self-esteem and self-awareness of their body appearance. The study also shows that heart condition, high blood pressure, and other chronic terminal illnesses can be caused by preexisting obesity in an individual. Persons suffering from obesity also tend to die earlier than their parents when it persists to adulthood. It is visibly essential to employ all resources available within our reach to ensure obesity is no longer a problem for our children. All stakeholders, together with parents and the children, are lined to ensure the objectives of the program are achieved.
Most programs fail to be implemented due to significant financial challenges, lack of political goodwill, and lack of goodwill from the implementation committee; however, that is not the case with this intervention. Involving the people close to the children, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in schools is the best shot for the intervention to be successful because children comprise 85 % of obese persons according to research (Messiah et al. 2012). Changing the eating habits of children in elementary schools and childcare will ensure young ones obtain the required calorie in proper amounts. In school, it is easy to control the type of meals the learners take and the correct time they take the food. Every elementary school will be required to offer a suitable diet to learners in enough portions that are needed for the public health board. Head of schools will also ensure any foods sold in school or brought from home for children consumption do not include sugary foods only but more fruits and vegetables. Mothers will be required to exclusively breastfeed their children for six months without giving other processed foods to their babies. The importance and effects of sugary foods will be taught in schools as part of standard lessons to empower the children from a young age on the role of taking specific types of food. Nutritionists will have school visits to talk to learners and teachers on the importance of choosing healthy eating and exercising.
Physical exercise is an essential way of controlling obesity, and so more school time will be allocated to exercise. Schools are encouraged to ensure that most afterschool activities done in school are physical. Lesson breaks should be increased to include more playtime for the learners amounting to the recommended two hours a day for every child (Katz et al. 2008). The education department is required to roll out an activity program for all schools in Miami, which will ensure all children receive enough physical exercise while in school. Most children are often driven to school or take school buses. Therefore it is recommended that parents allow them to walk or cycle to school. When they walk, they will be exercising, which is beneficial for them. On physical exercising, education stakeholders are encouraged to incorporate physical activities in the school co-curricular calendar.
Another primary objective is to ensure knowledge of the effects of obesity is disseminated to everyone in Miami. Therefore there will be posters all over the towns educating people on obesity effects and control. In conjunction with the health department, mobile clinics are set up to visit various schools and neighborhoods where people and children will receive prescriptions and advice on how not just to control but also cure it if they are already affected (Daniels et al., 2015). It is said that knowledge is power, and so if the right people have the information on control, effects, and prevention of obesity, implementation will be secure, and intervention will be successful.
In the social environment, everyone must care for their family and friend. Parents are encouraged to be keen on food intake and leisure time of their children (Messiah et al. 2012). When parents do the right thing, children will voluntarily do the right thing too, for example; it is believed obesity is genetic, but in most cases, it is just habits of parents that children take up and end up resembling them. If a family member, friend, or neighbor is obese, it is the responsibility of those close to them to ensure they get help before it becomes fatal.
There are several methods to beat obesity, including treatment. An individual could decide to focus on the use of drugs or exercise to deal with excess heaviness, but when it comes to children, they may not know what is right for them. School is a vital aspect in a child’s life; more so, the parents with obese children should be aware of the potential menace awaiting their young ones and step-up their parenting. A considerable percentage of who an individual becomes is attributed to the school they attended. What they learned, therefore, schools are the best tools to produce long-term effects on the long-sought solution for obesity. There is an inconsistency between how the challenge of overweight children is handed out as scary and the unpretentious course of action given. The multi-strategy intervention that is primarily centered on elementary school and the children is the best approach to beat obesity.
References
Messiah, S. E., Lipshultz, S. E., Natale, R. A., & Miller, T. L. (2013). The imperative to prevent and treat childhood obesity: why the world cannot afford to wait. Clinical obesity, 3(6), 163-171.
Messiah, S. E., Arheart, K. L., Natale, R. A., Hlaing, W. M., Lipshultz, S. E., & Miller, T. L. (2012). BMI, Waist Circumference, and Selected Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Preschool‐Age Children. Obesity, 20(9), 1942-1949.
Daniels, L. A., Mallan, K. M., Nicholson, J. M., Thorpe, K., Nambiar, S., Mauch, C. E., & Magarey, A. (2015). An early feeding practices intervention for obesity prevention. Pediatrics, 136(1), e40-e49
Vallgårda, S. (2018). Childhood obesity policies–mighty concerns, meek reactions. Obesity Reviews, 19(3), 295-301.
Katz 2008*- Katz D, O’Connell M, Njike V, Yeh M-C, Nawaz H. Strategies for the prevention
and control of obesity in the school setting: Systematic review and meta-analysis. International
Journal of Obesity. 2008;32(12):1780-9.
Obesity prevention program in Miami city, Florida
Student’s name
Course Name-Course Number
Tutor
Institution
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Obesity is the medical condition that a person gains excess body fats, which accumulates to the extent that might cause adverse consequences on health, contributing to improved health problems, and reducing the expectancy of life.In most cases, Obesity disease results in unhealthy conditions. It causes health risks to millions of people in the world because an individual with obese has less quality life and a lower life span. The Miami city in Florida contains excellent human services and health coverage across the city, although ignorance exists among the people in society. The theory that I will use in establishing the obesity prevention program is the homeostatic obesity theory. The homeostatic theoryexplains that obesityoccurs as a result of high-caloric over-consumption, working conditions, and low-nutrients food as it contributes to homeostasis imbalances(Zguira et al, 2019). Additionally, homeostatic theory helps researchers better understandwhy obesity rate increases and also offers the practical approach of identifying obesity as the crisis of public health.
The obesity prevention program’s proposed strategy aligns with homeostatic theory because it both expresses the problem of obesity in society and offers the best methods of preventing it. In Miami city, the issue of obesity can get precluded at the time of childhood, where children need to get exposed to the system of early childcare and elementary learning. This program aims to promote a change in behavioral exercise, eating conditions as well as influencing the social environment, and increasing people’s knowledge about obesity. Besides, the obesity prevention program also increases the awareness of obesity disease by exposing the effectsand causes, enabling people to get educated on obese health disorders(Lewis &Filpes, 2008). Finally, in Miami city, the program of obesity prevention help to increase skill development of the adults and children by ensuring that people are aware of daily or weekly choices of food template.
References
Lewis, J. E., &Filpes, C. (2008). Childhood obesity in a south Florida elementary school. Journal of School Health, 78(5), 243-245.
Zguira, M. S., Slimani, M., Bragazzi, N. L., Khrouf, M., Chaieb, F., Saïag, B., &Tabka, Z. (2019). Effect of an 8-week individualized training program on blood biomarkers, Adipokines and endothelial function in obese Young adolescents with and without metabolic syndrome. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(5), 751.
