School Systems Helping Prevent Childhood Obesity - Essay Example

School Systems Helping Prevent Childhood Obesity al Affiliation School Systems Helping Prevent Childhood Obesity Introduction Obesity is a state of having excess body fat to the extent of affecting one’s health. Incidences of obesity cases on the rise globally. The alarming fact is that obesity cases in children are on a high rise. Statistics from the CDC center show an alarming rate of an increase up to 18% in children between 6 and 11 years and in adolescents the numbers have risen up to 21% (CDC, 2014). This increase in number threatens to cripple the health of children in future. The high percentages have been attributed to deteriorating lifestyles. Children nowadays have substituted physical exercise with computerized games and watching television (Mello, Studdert, & Brennan, 2006). This is due to the neglect in the healthcare of children by the society at large. The children are also exposed to unhealthy eating habits which have also contributed to obesity. The fight against obesity cannot be achieved on individual basis. It requires the whole community as whole to participate in eliminating obesity as it affects both the physical and psychological health of the children. The society is developing at a high rate and the children will be required in future to give extra to the society than what is being currently done. This means that the children have to be healthy now so that they can stand a chance to survive and excel in the future society. Children and adolescent spend the best part of their productive life in schools. Therefore, initiating school programs that can help keep the children healthy and reduce obesity cases will contribute largely to eradication of the crisis. To come up with solutions, the school community needs to understand the causes of obesity so that they can offer valid approaches to the crisis. Cause of Obesity in Children The major contributing factor to obesity in children is lack of physical exercise and high caloric intake (CDC, 2014). It is common practice that after school children in many homes just watches television or play computer games. In school, the children do not get much play time as they have to cover the specified school curriculum within the specified period. This leaves out any time that children engage in physical activities. This leads to accumulation of calories from their diet leading to increased deposition of fat tissue and eventually, obesity sets in (CDC, 2013). Lack of exercise is aggravated from unsupervised diet. Children are more attracted to junk foods rather than healthy meals. Increased access to junk food results from decreased supervision or ignorant parent and guardians. The increased calories and lack of exercise are predisposing factors to obesity. Obesity has many negative physical and mental effects and this threatens proper development of the children. Immediate health problem for children and adolescents who are obese include joint pain, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Joint pain result from the increased body weight compared to the surface area of the child. The excess weight due to excess body fat impacts extra weight on the joints increasing the pressure and thus, the pain (CDC, 2014). Pain is an uncomfortable feeling and reduces the ability of the child to concentrate or to participate in any activity aimed at preparing them for the world. Obesity arises from increased consumption of carbohydrates with decreased caloric expenditure. The high levels of glucose leads to an imbalance in glucose levels leaving the child predisposed to diabetic attacks if the situation is not controlled. The surplus glucose in the body is transformed to fats which are deposited in adipose tissue. Increased fat accumulation can lead to deposition of lipids in coronary arteries. This can result in hypertension and other coronary diseases. Long term effects include mental health problems (CDC, 2014). First, the diseases will impact on the health of the children resulting in poor mental health. Stigma can arise from ridicule from other children and the feeling that they do not fit. This discrimination leads to mental problems and this greatly impacts on the output of the children. Therefore, it is the task of every person in the society to contribute to preventing children from getting obese. Schools are among the convenient environments where the children can be monitored and placed in programs that educate and help deal with obesity and its causes. How the School systems can aid in preventing childhood obesity The schools can promote to a healthy child population by launching and implementing two main categories. The policies should promote healthy eating and physical exercise. Lack of physical exercise and unhealthy eating habit has been recorded as the main contributors to the increasing rate of obesity globally. Promoting Physical Exercise This can be achieved by introducing physical education into the school curriculum (Kaphingst, & French, 2006). The school is required to offer extra curriculum activities to students. The activities should be scheduled at the end of each academic day. The school can enforce each child to undertake in physical activity by making it mandatory. To entice the children enticed, the school staff should create an environment where each child feels welcomed to participate in the physical activities. The school can also incorporate competition at various levels and come up with awards to reward the students. The school through government funding can offer a wide range of physical activities. Examples include swimming, ball games, and even gym services for students who may need it. Group participation in physical activities helps in encouraging everyone to participate and it make them feel like they belong to a team (Pekruhn, 2009). This will not only help in improving general physical health but also will improve the mental health for children who are vulnerable. Being a part of team also helps the children bond. This can help the children talk easily to each other and share problems they face back at home. Unhealthy eating habits have been partly attributed to stress factors. Therefore, when the children open up to each other relieving their stress which reduces the likelihood of them engaging in stress related activities. Bonding between the students and the teaching staff also helps improve their relationship. This will help in lowering the tension that prevents the children from seeking help from the staff. The staff members will also familiarize with the students and they will be able to detect any changes in the children. Physical activities in schools help heal relationships, physical and any mental ailments by creating a caring community for every member. Promoting Physical Education Physical education basically is teaching the children the skills and benefits of physical exercise in theory. Many children who are obese and even their parents may be ignorant of the benefits and repercussions of failing to exercise regularly. This ignorance has contributed to the rising cases of obese children. The federal government has the responsibility of employing and facilitating for physical educators and education in schools throughout the states. Physical education is meant to educate the children on their physical health and giving them ways through which they can improve their general health. Physical tests can be carried out by Body Mass Index (BMI) screening. BMI tests are based on the weight and height of an individual (Pekruhn, 2009). It has a range of scale that is used to indicate the physical fitness of an individual based on their height and weight. Physical education helps students interpret their results. This helps them understand better than their physical appearance which is used to categorize an individual as healthy, thin, overweight, or obese. Children who may appear thin may be overweight based on BMI as opposed to children who appear a bit overweight. This knowledge helps each child understand their physical fitness better and work towards improving or maintaining their fitness. Physical education also encourages students and helps them come up with ways to plan physical activities while away from school (Kaphingst, & French, 2006). Healthy exercise makes all the difference between physical burning out and physical health. Thus, the children should not go unmonitored as they may engage in burning out activities which poses health problems. Physical education also helps an individual find an activity that they may be good and comfortable in. Strenuous activities such as rope skipping and running may prove challenging to overweight and obese children and this may demoralize them further (CDC, 2013). Therefore, such student should be enrolled in lighter exercises that burn calories without the immediate fatigue producing exercises. Swimming programs for such students should be launched. Swimming exercises can help overweight and obese children exercise their whole body while avoid the great physical exertion associated with activities such as running. Physical education in school should not only be limited to physical health but also be extended too mental health. Research carried out shows that to burn sufficient calories from your body, one is required exercise regularly for at least an hour (Mello, Studdert, & Brennan, 2006). This requires mental preparation for what the students will go through. Such vigorous exercise for some children who have never exercised ever in their life may prove overwhelming leading to high quitting rates. Students should also be taught that change does not occur immediately and that healthy maintenance will contribute to a fit individual. Physical health should be matched with mental health to ensure good performance by the students and to keep them inspired. Promoting health Dietary Intake Healthy diet is required in conjuncture with regular exercise in the effort to eradicate obesity in children. A balanced diet comprised of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins is required in our daily diet (Pekruhn, 2009). Schools can regulate dietary intake by monitoring the student meals. Lunch programs should be incorporated in schools so as to provide monitored well balanced diet. This can be achieved by enrolling for federal meal programs. The meal offered will be a balanced diet and nutritious which contributes to health and proper development. The schools are also required to reduce availability of junk food. Many school canteens sell high caloric food and beverages which contribute to obesity. Schools can regulate this by requiring the contactors to abide by the regulations of selling only healthy food to the children. The school curriculum should also include nutrition education. This will educate the students on what foods they should take and in what proportions. Obesity is due to an imbalance in caloric intake and this can be regulated by taking a balanced caloric diet. Nutrition health education will also teach the children the benefits of taking a healthy diet. The school should also provide fruit and clean water for the students. The two play a major role in the maintenance of good health. Challenges facing School based programs Economical challenges are a major factor that hinders the implementation of physical and nutrition programs in schools (Mello, Studdert, & Brennan, 2006). Many public schools are underfunded and they cannot afford to hire professionals or implement extra curriculum activities. Some school can only afford basic extra activities. The limited resources can only afford select programs and this locks the minority students out. Government based feeding programs are also hard to implement. In some schools where the programs are running, the practice is poorly carried out. Providing quality meals for a large population of students is challenging. Many students opt out of school food due to its poor quality and instead seek fast foods. Other barriers to the success of school based programs include ignorance and lack of cooperation (Mello, Studdert, & Brennan, 2006). Making extracurricular activities in schools may not be practical. Thus, it is hard to make them mandatory for every student. Some kids may be uncooperative and may not choose to participate in such programs. The basis of extracurricular activities in many schools is based on a competitive ground. By this principle, many students who are not physically fit are not selected to participate in such programs. The actuality of the situation is that the school boards will allow funding for productive teams that bring glory and fame to the school rather than programs that are aimed at helping the overweight children. Performance discrimination and lack of motivation has led to the failure of the programs, both at an individual and at the community level. Solutions Obesity is not an individual crisis rather a society problem (Kaphingst, & French, 2006). Understanding this will help in involving every person in the task. Understanding can be achieved by promoting awareness on how obesity in children impacts negatively on the whole society. The education board should also prioritize the education system. Children have a lot of work load that bears them at the end of the day, leaving them totally spent. Reorganizing the curriculum will help sieve the bulk information and reduce the workload (CDC, 2013). This will create time to incorporate physical and nutrition education. The federal government is required to play its role and ensure adequate funding of public schools. This will aid in implementing required programs and hiring professionals. Conclusion Obesity in children is an alarming medical crisis. The society is raising physically and mentally handicapped children. The danger in this is that the future of the children will be bleak due to decreased productivity. The society is charged with the role of making sure that our children excel more than the current productive generation. This can only be accomplished by ensuring that they are healthy both physically and mentally. Communally, eradication of obesity can be very easy. Incorporation of school based programs is aimed at helping eradicate obesity at a societal level. Regular exercise, healthy diet with regular intake of water and fruits are the leading factors to eradicating obesity. For obese children, regular exercise and adopting healthy habits will help reduce their weight while keeping associated diseases at bay. References Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC). (2014). Childhood Obesity Facts. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm Centers for Disease Control. (2013). Make a difference at your school. http://digitalcommons.hsc.unt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=disease Kaphingst, K. M., & French, S. (2006). The role of schools in obesity prevention. The Future of Children, 16(1), 109-142. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/physicalactivity/pdf/roleofschools_obesity.pdf Mello, M. M., Studdert, D. M., & Brennan, T. A. (2006). Obesity—the new frontier of public health law. New England Journal of Medicine, 354(24), 2601-2610. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmhpr060227 Pekruhn, C. (2009). Preventing Childhood Obesity: A School Health Policy Guide. National Association of State Boards of Education. http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/web-assets/2009/01/preventing-childhood-obesity- Read More