Childhood Obesity in Miami Dade Florida
Abstract
The project is directed at the problem of childhood obesity in Miami Dade County, Florida. The seriousness of the problem is that having problems with obesity in childhood, people harm their health in the future and increase the rate of mortality in the society. Childhood obesity becomes one of the major problems of the whole nation. The understanding of the issue and its scope may help solve the problem. The main purpose of this health promotion project is to consider the level of childhood obesity in the schools of Miami Dade Florida, check the measures which are currently taken, and offer additional measures for reducing the childhood obesity in the region. The discussion is based on the particular reasons which cause students’ overweight and on the outcomes which cause great health problems. Higher level of mortality in the future is the main outcome of the childhood obesity. Helping students understand the reasons and teaching them to protect themselves may help reduce the problem. Therefore, students are to be informed about the healthy outcome if fruits and vegetables are consumed. Basing students’ informing about healthy nutrition on the theory of reasoned action and planned behavior and on self-care model is the main idea of this discussion.
Introduction
Obesity is the greatest problem of the whole mankind. The increased number of obese children terrifies the whole planet as the problem becomes younger. Thus, if several years ago obesity was the problem of the adults and elderly people, now it is possible to see children of 3-4 years old which suffer from overweight. The problem is that the family tradition in nutrition is rather strong. Got used to prepare meals in a particular way, people transfer their customs to their children who eat unhealthy food and as a result they gain weight from childhood. Many people believe that obesity is a genetic problem and they do not try to change thinking that it is impossible to battle the nature. However, the attitude to nutrition, life style, sports, and other particular issues are the main reasons for obesity in younger years as obesity is the reason of passive life and unhealthy nutrition. The increase of the fast food restaurants also add to the problem. Therefore, it is possible to control obesity if to inform people about the real reasons for obesity, the outcomes and the ways how the issue may be solved. Healthy eating and active lifestyle should be promoted at schools as the main principles for regulating and controlling the level of childhood obesity. The main idea of the health promotion project is to offer children fresh fruits, vegetables, and fruits instead of sandwiches they got used to at school and create special classes aimed at informing students about the ways how they may lead healthy life style.
Overview of the problem
Much research has been conducted in the sphere of childhood obesity in Miami Dade, Florida. The level of obesity and the number of children who suffer from obesity was considered. Considering the statistical information, it is possible to state that the country under consideration contains many ethical groups which represent various statistical data. According to the Health Council of South Florida, Inc. (2008), ethnicity plays important role in the health issues. Thus, children from different ethnic groups have various rates in obesity. Black people are considered to be more obese in comparison with White ones. According to the data, Whites are 30% less obese than Black people. Such health issues as cardiovascular problems, stomachache, etc. are caused by obesity in early years. Therefore, it may be predicted that obesity in childhood leads to mortality because of the serious problems in the future. It is possible to prevent the problem, to help children understand the importance of healthy eating in spite of helping them treat their problem in the future.
A closer consideration of the disparities in obesity among various racial groups in Miami Data helps to draw the following conclusions. The rate of obese Hispanics is 30% more from non-Hispanics. Measuring the difference between Blacks and Whites, Miami-Dade County community health card (2007) states that difference between White and Black population in the county comprises 6.7% (22.6 for Whites and 29.3 for Blacks). More people just reported about overweight, 60% for Whites and 69.6% for Blacks (the disparity is 9.6%). Davies and Fitzgerald (2007) are sure that ethnical, social, and religious disparities impact the level of human obesity. However, implementing our promotion health project, we are not going to pay much attention to the ethnicity of students as our program is directed at reducing obesity by means of healthy nutrition and active lifestyle which should be followed by all children, with our particular notification of the ethnic group they belong to.
Rationale and Study Design
The main idea of the project is to use the intervention strategies for impacting the target audience. The main stages of the intervention planning are going to be followed with the purpose to provide “a protocol for the development of theory-based health promotion programs” (Hudmon, 2010, p. 85). Here are the stages which are going to be followed while our health promotion project. First, we are going to identify the predicted behavioral and environment changes. Second, the discussion of the strategies should be provided. Third, those strategies should be implemented into plans with concretization of the necessary documents and materials. Fourth, the analysis should be provided wit the purpose to understand what are going to be the outcomes. When the preparation stage is completed, we are going to shift to project implementation (Bartholomew, Parcel, Kok, & Gottlieb, 2011). The intervention stage is the most important and lengthy stage as we are planning to apply all the information and strategies mentioned above. Finally, the analysis of the research results should be supported with the particular information about recommendations basing on the outcomes of the intervention.
Dwelling upon Miami Dade, it should be stated that ethnical disparity plays important role in the community development. The problem of ethical disparity and health education has been considered by different authors. Travers (1997) is sure that health promotion actions should be taken without any particular reference to ethnical belonging of a person, while Minkler (2008) is sure that various ethnical groups should be impacted in different ways. Still, our intervention program is going to be directed at the whole community, and it is possible to talk about community coalition is our case. We are going to impact children of Miami Data community, despite their ethnical belonging. The only criteria for research are the schools which should be located on the territory of the country under consideration.
The main purpose of our intervention project is to reduce the rate of childhood obesity in the region by means of offering students at schools more vegetables, juices, and fruits as the opposition to sandwiches and applying some health education courses aimed informing students about future outcome of unhealthy nutrition. Rosenkranz (2008) has already proven that the increase of the fruit and vegetable consumption impacts the level of fats and sugar consumption in the community. If we manage to reach this result, we are going to achieve the desired outcome as sugar and fats are the main provocative issues in the childhood obesity. Therefore, we are planning to impact the schools on the territory of Miami Data, Florida with the purpose to reduce the level of children obesity by means to giving lectures about healthy nutrition and offering students fruits, vegetables and juices. The planned outcome of the intervention project is the reduction of the childhood obesity with the purpose to reduce the level of adult mortality.
Theories, Concepts and Models
Choice is a guarantee to human freedom. Those who have an opportunity to choose the products for consumption are usually guided by several principles, such as family tradition in eating, personal preference and the opinion of the society. It is obvious that society plays important role in the life of people. The decisions made in society, the actins which are held there impact human lives really. Being social beings we all are involved in the social affairs. At the same time, the desire to be personally protected also dominates. People should understand the danger of unhealthy eating to be able to make correct decisions. The awareness of the problem is a guarantee of acting in direction at solving this problem. If parents are explained the hazards of fat and sweet products, they may change the nutrition menu of their children. Before getting down to the discussion of the applied theories, it is important to state that evidence based practical research is one of the most effective ways for data collection and intervention program planning (Issel, 2008). Therefore, implementing an intervention project directed at reducing the rate of childhood obesity in Miami Dade, Florida, two specific theories are going to be applied to. Those theories are directed at the change of human behavior which is the main purpose of the intervention project we are planning to implement in schools of Miami Dade.
The Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior and Self-Care Theory are used for our project. A close consideration of each of these theories is gong to help us understand the target audience and the reasons which impact their choice. Human behavior is one of the activities which help to prevent diseases and assuring healthy lives. Human believes and their intentions are closely interconnected (Sideridis, Kaissidis, & Padeliadu, 1998). Therefore, referring to this statement, it is possible to consider the reasonable explanation of the role of the behavior in human decision making. The main idea of the theory of reasoned action/planned behavior is the basis for motivation, intention and effort as people usually make decisions on the basis of their reasonable arguments and social norms (Baban, A., & Craciun, 2007). It is obvious that implementing an intervention project directed at reducing the number of obese children in Miami Dade community we are going to use reasonable arguments informing people about future danger. Giving reliable information about healthy nutrition and the outcome in case of the inability to follow the principles of healthy eating, we are going to impact children’s choice in the nutrition by means offering them reasonable arguments and plan their behavior (Hankins, M., French, D., & Horne, 2000). It is important to remember that human behavior is also planned by means of the attitude to personal safe. People protect themselves and it is impossible to see a person who is going to harm oneself intentionally. Therefore, the self-care theory is going to be the base for our research. Copying behavior, self-efficacy, social support, self-care ability and self-care action are the central parameters of self-care behavior (Jenerette, C., & Murdaugh, 2008). Impacting human inner instinct of personal safe, we are going to impact their desire to remain health. To increase the effect, the problem of adult mortality as a result of childhood obesity is going to be considered while our intervention healthy project. Universal and health deviation needs are going to be considered while research.
Morbidity and mortality of childhood obesity
Most of the cases of the adult mortality connected with the healthy issues are caused by the problems in the childhood. Failure to eat healthy food and follow nutrition principles may cause morbidity and mortality. Growing children bring all their customs and traditions into the adult life. Health problems also support people from childhood to adolescence and further. But the problem is that the health issues increase, and if the trouble is not solved in childhood, health problems increase and transform in something more dangerous. It is much easier to cope with the problem at childhood, at the early stages of illness development that to try to cope with issue at the further stages when the disease has become a chronic one. Therefore, obesity is a chronic problem and the inability to cope with it leads to the problems in the future. The most common complications of childhood obesity are atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and colorectal cancer, the diseases which have the higher risks of mortality. It has already been proven that the role of childhood obesity is really great and the issue cause irreversible complications in human health condition. It means that being overweight for a long period of time, the processes in human organism are broken that causes more difficulties and health troubles. The energy of obese people is spent in vain as many processes in human organisms with extra weight are slowed down and to make those work appropriately more energy is necessary which is in constant deficit. It has already been proven that the more people live with extra weight the more problems with health they have (Maffeis & Tato, 2001). It is like a snow ball, one problem leads to another one and so on and so forth until the health problems are that great that human organism is unable to cope with the problems and people have to consume medicine to support the life processes in the organism. It is possible to conclude that coping with the problem on the early stages may help reduce the cases of adult morbidity and mortality as the highest rate of human deaths is connected with cerebrovascular diseases which are usually a cause of childhood obesity.
Discussion
The intervention health promotion project conducted in the schools of Miami Dade Florida is aimed at reducing the rate of childhood obesity in the region. The understanding of the problem is the first step on the way to the problem solving. We offer two specific ways for implementing in the community. Being an intervention health promotion project, we plan to create special lectures aimed at explaining students about the hazards of unhealthy nutrition. Another step in our intervention is going to be offering students more vegetables, fruits and juices instead of sandwiches and sweets in school caterings.
Being divided into two specific parts, our intervention is going to be really effective. Children will spend several hours a week on discussing the outcomes of unhealthy eating and the advantages of healthy nutrition. The class should comprise lectures, discussion hours and some practical lessons where children should learn to lead active life, refuse from unhealthy food and consume only healthy and useful products. It is important to state not only the reasons of the obesity, but also about the future outcomes, the problems with health and other specific disadvantages, like overweight, which may help children understand the whole seriousness of the issue.
The lectures should be supported with actions. We are planning to change children’s menu at schools. Instead of bans, sandwiches, candies and other sweets students are going to be offered vegetables, fruits, and juices. These products may serve as a deserving substitution to those students got used to consume. Students should spend more time on the fresh air as the existence of the TV and the Internet has lead to the situation that more and more children spend much time in their rooms seating in front of the screen. Consuming more fresh fruits, vegetables and juices is going to increase the spread of metabolism and children will desire to run active games. Nutrition is really important for children as they are to lead active lives. The intervention health promotion program in Miami Dade, Florida should be held on the level of the whole community as only common actions may help reduce children obesity in the country and eliminate high rate adult mortality because of cerebrovascular diseases.
Conclusion
Therefore, it may be concluded that the intervention health promotion project in Miami Dade, Florida directed at the reduction of childhood obesity is going to be effective as we are to impact two specific goals. First of all, the intervention project is going to be directed at children’s behavior by means of informing them about danger in the future connected with their healthy. The advantages and health issues of fruits, vegetables and juices consumption are going top be presented at the lectures. Moreover, children are going to be offered those products at the school caterings instead of commonly sold bans, sandwiched and sweets. Therefore, children will be informed and shown on action that healthy nutrition is possible and it is easy to reach the desired outcome. The government of Miami Dade should pay more attention to the structured spread of the program with the involvement of all schools. The effectiveness of this program should be evaluated by means of the statistical information devoted to the reduction of mortality because of such diseases as cardiovascular illness, diabetes, etc. The program may be very effective if all schools participate as the social opinion may change and in accordance with the theory of reasoned action and planned behavior, human actions may be directed at more healthy and better style of life.
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