Childhood Obesity Intervention Plan - Assignment Example

?Running Head: Childhood Obesity Intervention Plan. Childhood Obesity Intervention Plan             Institution:       Date: Abstract Obesity is a medical condition characterized by high body weight-especially too much body fat. The condition is determined through the measurement of the ‘Body Mass Index’ (BMI) which is the ratio of body weight to height. According to W.H.O (2011), a BMI measure over 25 kg/m2 is an indication of being overweight and that over 30kg/m2 is an indication of being obese. Obesity has become a global issue with concerns heightening in developed and developing nations. This is due to the fact that the developed world is more associated with high rates of ‘junk food’ intake and a sedentary lifestyle. The condition is especially more worrying because its prevalence has greatly increased among the younger generation in lower socioeconomic classes. These high rates of childhood obesity are even more worrying because they are bound to directly transform into a high rate of adulthood obesity in the future. This paper highlights the case of Australia, which is among the developed worlds’ nations that are suffering from high costs associated with childhood obesity and its related conditions such as type II diabetes and coronary heart disease (CHD). The paper specifically looks at a possible intervention that could be undertaken to curb the high rates of the condition among the young population. The possible effectiveness of the condition and its applicability are also pre-assessed. Introduction The developed world has increasingly come to cognizance of the dangers posed by the high prevalence of childhood obesity, which is currently experienced in most developed nations (Baur & Waters, 2003). The condition has become of greater concern because it is also a predictor of future adulthood obesity, which is associated with other chronic conditions such as coronary heart disease (CHD), asthma, sleep apnea, type II diabetes and social discrimination that is prevalent amongst the younger image conscious generation. According to a recent study by Simpson et al. (2007), an analytical observance of the data collected showed that if the current rates of weight gain experienced in the last half a decade persisted, only less than a third of the Australian adults will be of normal-weight by 2025. At the projected rate the prevalence of obesity will have shot up by 65%. A predictive look at the situation implies that handling the problem at an early age would be more effective in dealing with the situation of obesity because lifestyle habits get rigid with advance in age. Changes that are initiated in adolescence or adulthood may prove to be rather challenging to eliminate. The earlier initiation of interventions is also essential because it leads to the long-term avoidance of high costs associated with pharmaceutical care of children with obesity and its related conditions (Turner & Crowle, 2010). According to the findings by the Centre for Health Economics (2012), being obese while aged below five is associated with very high medical costs because of the long-term usage of pharmaceutical prescriptions that become necessary because of associated conditions. According to the same research results from a survey in 2004 and 2005, overweight children aged below five had a cumulative five-year medical care cost that amounted to 9.8 million Australian dollars higher than the normal weight children in the same period. Simpson et al. (2007), states that past studies have shown that children as young as two are found to be overweight. This finding implies that prevention or intervention programs that start early and are more home or school-based are necessary in order to overcome the challenge of childhood obesity (Cella et al. 2004). The Underlying Issue/Problem Analysis Obesity and overweight conditions are the major causes of mortality and morbidity within the adult population. While the two are highly severe and more risky in advanced age, longitudinally designed studies have shown that they can be even worse if they occur at an early age. The age at which obesity begins has greater impact on its ability to progress into the future, and it has been proven that there is a risk of 25%-50% of childhood obesity progressing into adulthood. Like most other developed nations there has been increasing prevalence of obesity and overweight conditions among the Australian young population aged two to five years. A recent longitudinal study within Australia by Wave 1involving 4983 subjects below age five found out that 5.5% percent of the subjects were overweight while 15.2% of them were obese. The participants from lower socioeconomic classes were found to be highly obese and overweight when compared to those from higher socioeconomic classes. In addition to this a research by Rissel et al. (2006), showed that one out of every six children in Sydney and Melbourne aged between two and four years were obese. The increase in childhood obesity and its early emergence in the early childhood period, as well as the few achieved impacts of already designed interventions underscore the importance for seeking the implementation of alternative interventions. The new interventions need to be at an effective level where its impacts can be felt across the board or rather all the populations’ age groups. Stakeholder analysis/Target Group Analysis The highlighted facts on the challenges of early childhood obesity including its high medical costs and progression into adulthood call for the development of an intervention that particularly focuses on the young generation. This focus should be particularly directed to the children aged below five because this is the basic level at which the problem begins to develop (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). The effective achievement of reduced cases of overweight and obese children will be greater in curbing cases of obesity even among the future adult populations because the progression of childhood obesity into adulthood will have been stopped. However, it is good to be cognizant of the fact that the children that make up the target group aged below five may not be fully cognizant of the challenges that the condition causes. Additionally, they may be unaware of the contribution that their lifestyle, choices of diet and leisure time activities have on their weight gain. As such, parents should be picked as the major stakeholder group for the implementation of any intervention program on childhood obesity reduction. This is important because parents are the major determinants of a child’s lifestyle with regard to diet and physical activity (Kamp, Graham & Condrasky, 2006). The implementation of dieting programs by teenagers as at times has been blamed for causing eating disorders, thus including parents may help reduce the problem (Caterson et al. 2009). Therefore, a home-based approach should be effective towards the attainment of the reduction of childhood obesity among the children in the age bracket targeted. There are a number of systemic interventions that have already been identified. However; only a few of them have undergone implementation and evaluation. Among these home-based approaches is the infant nutrition program that has helped in addressing the issue of obesity and overweight conditions (Carlin, et al. 2006; Michal et al. 2007). Analysis of objectives The overall objective of the mentioned home-based plan is to attenuate and eventually reduce the effects of childhood obesity among the target group of children aged below five. This plan is also aimed at cutting down the number of obese adults in the future by progressively cutting down the number of obese or overweight children that progress in to adulthood. Therefore, as an overall plan it is expected that its implementation will reduce the number of overweight and obese children among the Australian population. The intervention plans will target two major areas that determine the development of the condition. The two will be the maintenance of a low calorie diet, which is low on saturated fats, and the decrease of sedentary behavior, which is associated with weight gain because of the extra calories that do not get burned up in physical activity (Campbell & Hesketh, 2010). In previous interventions such as the infant nutrition program there had been no element of inclusion of physical exercises probably due to age consideration. However, this program will consider the inclusion of exercises as part of the dual approach towards attaining effectiveness. The use of the dual approach will be effective in attaining weight reduction because the increase of physical activity will help burn the extra calories and fats that may be accumulated for those that cannot maintain a strict dietary regime (Campbell & Hesketh, 2010; McDowell & Reily, 2003). The program will be specifically focused on the period between the second and fifth year where healthy feeding behaviors and physical activity will be encouraged among the most economically and socially disadvantaged groups in Australia because they are at a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese (ASSO, 2006). The attainment of the implementation capacity will be achieved through teaching parents about the importance of diet and exercise in reducing and preventing excessive weight gain. These output programs will be organized within school sets ups where parents may be requested to attend with their children on free days such as the weekend. Logical Framework Matrix Activity Description Indicators Means of verification Assumptions Goal-To obtain general reduction and eventual elimination of childhood obesity for non-genetic based causes. The goal’s success will be indicated by the overall attainment of reduced childhood obesity progression in to teenage in the next ten years. This will be attained if lower numbers of obese teenage children are realized in the group under observation. Body Mass Index measures can be sampled on target populations for evaluation after the ten year period by implementers. There will be a significant reduction of childhood obesity among the children as will be ascertained by a reduction of obese teenagers in the target group after the observational period. Purpose-The goal’s outcomes include achieving reduction of cases of conditions that are related to obesity such as CHD, asthma, sleep apnea, morbidity etc. The reduction of these conditions is also expected to directly lead to the reduction of pharmaceutical costs associated with obesity and these conditions. The successful implementation of the program should attain the purpose of reducing the medical costs incurred by stakeholders due to obesity related conditions. The prevalence of these conditions should also decline with the attainment of the goal of weight management. The verification process can be achieved through the assessment of medical records to determine the levels of reported cases that are associated with obesity as well as the costs incurred in handling their treatment. The implementers of the program can collect this data from medical records after seeking permission from relevant authorities within the medical facilities where interventions were implemented. There will be an overall reduction in the costs incurred in treating medical conditions related to obesity, and similarly these conditions are expected to significantly decline. Component Objectives- These shall include the attainment of proper dieting and regular physical exercise regime, both of which will translate to the reduction of overweight and obese cases as well as conditions associated with them and the medical care costs that they bring about. There achievement of component objectives will be observable through the increase in non-sedentary life characterized by regular exercise and healthy dieting which will help attain weight control. The attainment of these component objectives should be observed through a rise in the number of families engaging in regular physical exercises. For example, a high gym attendance rate should be an indicator of the attainment of the exercise goal. An increase in grocery shopping consisting of more greens and fruits at the local levels should be an indicator of good response to proper dietary intake. The major assumption with regard to component objectives is that the children in the target groups will begin engaging in a regular regime of exercises and the taking of a proper diet. Out puts-These will include training activities on parents about proper dieting and how to maintain a regular exercise regime for their children. The training will adopt the form of a seminar which will also incorporate the distribution of printed material on the same subject. The success of the interventions and outputs will be indicated by a high attendance of parents who happen to be the major stakeholder group. The verification process for this element can be tracked through the count of distributed printed material or regular signing of attendance books. The weight of the matter of obesity in health and its associated high prevalence will most probably attract a higher attendance for the session designated for training. Analysis of alternative strategies and effectiveness of activity The successful intervention of the designated plan of educating parents on how to offer a healthy and wholesome diet while engaging their children in a regular regime of physical exercises, greatly depends on the parents’ attendance. Therefore, the success of this program will be hinged on the attendance levels attainable in the seminar. This aspect will be greatly challenged by the probable inability by most of the parents to get ample time away from their busy schedules in order to attend to the seminar. As such, it is expected that the lack of time to attend may be the biggest compromise to the success and effectiveness of the program. Apart from normal teaching, the use of practical demonstrations on how to exercise and prepare healthier meals may also require more time. There is also the probability that the short teaching and demonstration time may not suffice in creating a comprehensive understanding of how to exercise the taught knowledge (Saunders, 2007). Therefore, the design of an alternative way to deliver this education and demonstration may be necessary so as to reach all people in the target group. The use of pamphlets with printed material on exercising and healthy diet observance may be the best alternative to oral delivery of the intended teachings. The material is also a lasting memory that will keep the parents reminded of their obligation, and they can regularly refer back to the earlier taught content. Alternatively, multimedia tools such as CDs, audio tapes may be prepared with audio and visual content that can be distributed to the target groups. The use of multimedia channels to deliver this teaching will also be a better mode because it allows incorporation of both picture and audio sounds (Day & Emmanuel, 2011). Additionally, the proliferation of social and new media can allow the parents to share their material with friends and family-including those that did not attend the seminars. These channels will offer the best solution towards the distribution of the material and even make the work easier for the implementers of the program. Harnessing the power of media by advertising the availability of such training and material will also be very effective in ensuring attendance and overall effectiveness of the program (Day & Emmanuel, 2011). Conclusion In conclusion obesity is a global challenge that has greatly affected most nations especially in the developed and developing world. Australia, which is among the developed nations, is also experiencing high obesity rates, especially among the young population. Childhood obesity has been cited as the most challenging condition because it has a high likelihood of progressing into adulthood obesity. The associated conditions such as CHD, asthma and type II diabetes pose even further challenges because they increase medical costs and are responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates among obese people. The high costs associated with childhood obesity care are also a big challenge to the health sector and parents. As such, the implementation of an intervention plan to overcome obesity in early childhood is indeed a very effective plan towards reducing high adulthood obesity rates and associated conditions. However, because children may not be cognizant of the obesity issue and its related health challenges, it becomes appropriate to use their parents as the right stakeholder to implement a dietary plan and regular exercise regime that can allow proper weight management. In order to facilitate this implementation the organization of parents’ educational seminars provides the best forum to disseminate such knowledge. 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