Childhood Obesity: A Winnable Battle
Group 22
Poor nutrition and the lack of healthy food options available to young children and adolescents is a major contributing factor that leads to childhood obesity and poor developmental health in children. Early childhood is dependent on healthy food; many children who did not have access to nutritious food when they were maturing are more likely to be hospitalized due to nutritional deficiencies (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). Further, a study found that preschool and elementary aged children have a higher chance of developing anxiety problems as a result of food insecurity than their food secure counterparts.
Various sectors of our society affect the health of our children, such as families, schools, governmental agencies, community organization, the media and more. The school setting plays a very crucial role in the health and development of children, being that that's where students grow and develop throughout the years. This environment determines the opportunities and access to future resources, ultimately, shaping their lives as adults. Simultaneously, School is a determinant sector where this issues can be actively addressed; from the implementation of a healthier menu option, to the education about healthy eating. According to the CDC’s report on the role of schools in preventing childhood obesity, there is a 10 key strategy plan schools can use to improve health nutrition and increase physical education. It is largely focused on identifying the important resources needed and the challenges faced at a larger scale.
When addressing childhood obesity from the institution of public education it is very important to identify the way that the social determinants of health play in this issue. The fact that a population of kids is already predetermined to have access to completely different foods from the moment that they are born, reflect the way social inequalities affect the individual’s choices.
Schools cannot solve it all on their own. The involvement of all of the sectors of society is very important, but any improvement on child obesity is unlikely to be halted without strong school-based policies and programs. Schools play an especially important role because over 95% of young people are enrolled in schools, and emerging research documents the connections between physical activity, good nutrition, physical education and nutrition programs and performance. (CDC, 2014)
Among the 10 strategy key plan developed by the CDC, the implementation and development of in-class programs as well as course of studies in health are a common theme, these ones being: 1) Designate a school health coordinator and main and active school health council, 2) Implement a high-quality course of study in health education, 3) Implement a high-quality course of study in physical education, and 4) Strengthen the school’s nutrition and physical policies.
By designating a school health coordinator there is someone responsible for managing and coordinating all school health policies, programs, activities, and resources . A school health council provides guidance for the coordinator, staff and the school administration on decisions regarding health activities. This council is typically composed of representatives from different sectors of the school, students, teachers, administrators, care providers, social service leaders, and religious and civic leaders. The designation serves very important roles in allowing the involvement of students in the decision making and the process of improving the environment they grow and learn in, it can help institutionalize health promotion as part of the fundamental mission of the school or school district, and it helps strengthen school physical education and health education curricula and assists in bringing profound change in the school environment, such as the adoptions of nutrition standards, establishment of walking programs and after-school physical activities (CDC, 2014). Following the designation of a board and a coordinator, the implementation of a high-quality course of study in health education is critical in shaping individual behaviors. Health educational curricula should emphasize the importance of strategy development to facilitate and increase healthy behaviors in students. This things being, teaching skills needed to adopt these behaviors, providing opportunities to practice this skills in the classroom and addressing barriers for students to adopt healthy behaviors. As mentioned in the CDC's report of 2104, Michigan and Virginia are two places that have developed modules and objectives for their curricula with the objective improving their nutrition and PE programs as well of addressing adolescent risk behaviors for assessing support for student's to thrive. Along with health education, acknowledging and giving the same importance to implementing high-quality course of study in physical education is key in the success of students. Physical education is as much an academic discipline as anything else taught in school- a discipline that gives students some of the most critical skills they need to be productive citizens of the 21st century (CDC, 2014). Physical Education is not just a one year class to check off the list, it be given as much importance as any other curriculum based on a rigorous national standard that emphasizes knowledge and makes sure that skills for a lifetime are developed of physical activity for kids to carry on in their adult lives. This would have a huge impact in not only immediate generations but in future one's as well. According to the report, quality physical education requires adequate time of exercise per week, at least 150 minutes for elementary schools and 225 minutes for secondary schools. South Carolina is an example of an state that has made significant efforts to improve quality physical education programs. They developed a system for assessing student proficiency in physical education and added an item to state-issued report cards on schools performance that identifies the percentage of students proficient in physical education.
Most schools face similar challenges in order to improve physical activity and nutrition policies and programs due to limited budgets and the pressure to raise standardized test scores, which is thought to be obtained by narrowing school’s focus and curriculum. However, the step to address this lack of attention and priority of schools health environment can be challenged by the initiative of a leader, committee or board. A resource that has emerged in recent years to support this work is Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) (www.actionforhealthykids.org), a national non governmental organization that has organized teams in every state to develop and implement state action plans for improving school policies and programs in nutrition and physical activities (CDC,2014). Changes in the class setting can certainly generate a lot of improvement among students enrolled in school, nonetheless, the increase of opportunities for students to engage in physical activities and the access and implementation of quality school meals program are imperative for improvement.
Access to healthy food leads to improvement of educational outcomes, a decrease in childhood obesity, and an enhancement of emotional and mental health (Children’s defense fund, 2012). In the United States, 12 million homes are classified as “food insecure,” which means they struggle to afford enough food to feed themselves or their family. This is a huge problem as prenatal nutrition is a key element in a healthy child. Physical impairments such as cleft palate and brain defects are a result of poor maternal nutritional intake. A lack of certain nutrients like folic acid and iron can also negatively affect babies in utero. Poor prenatal and early childhood nutritional intake is linked directly to obesity and overall decrease in mental and physical health.
We are constantly berated by advertisements pushing high calorie, un-nutritious food hoping we will purchase it; and sadly, we do. Food deserts are also massive barriers between our youth and access to healthy food. Our infrastructure is not created to make healthy food options easily available, fast food stores and “convenient” meals trap us, as healthy and nutritious foods are too expensive for the majority of the population to afford. School lunches are also a problem as they are sometime the only meal a child gets in their day, and they need to be of high quality nutritious value in order to sustain them. Yet they are fed low-quality foods that have little to no nutrients.
In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents also were overweight or obese (CDC, para. 1). Obesity has become an obvious problem in our country. Unfortunately, this epidemic has spread nationwide to even some of our youngest citizens. We have seen rates of obesity quadruple in 6-11 year-olds, and triple in 12-19 years olds over the last 40 years (Physical Activity in Schools, 2014). Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem. One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults. Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases (CDC, 2014).
The simplest answer splits into two main objectives revolving around public education systems. To reduce childhood obesity in the US, schools need to enforce an adequate amount of physical activity as well as serve nutritious foods and teach children how to eat healthy. Schools play a critical role in improving the dietary behaviors of children and adolescents. Nutrition is very important for everyone, but especially important for children because nutrition directly links to all aspects of their growth and development. Low income families have less access to healthy food choices or opportunities for physical activities and must rely on public schools to do their part.
The first action schools can take is to ingrain an active lifestyle into the student’s daily routine. Unfortunately, many public school systems have begun cutting physical education from mandatory requirements and “the large majority or our children do not achieve the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity each day” (Physical Activity in Schools, 2014). A survey was sent out by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine to 47 of the US states (a total of 1,761 schools and 690 school districts) to gauge activity level and nutrition. The states that followed recommended guidelines were labeled “strong,” while those didn’t enforce the guidelines were ranked as “weak.” Most schools did not have any sort of regulations whatsoever and therefore fall into neither category. The findings of this study reveal part of the bleak truth behind childhood obesity. Of those labeled weak, “twenty-four states and 67% of school districts had no P.E. policies” and 39 out of the 47 states do not even have a recess policy (Childhood Obesity, 2014). Considering that children spend eight hours in a classroom, five days a week, they are losing out on the critical balance between work and play. Keeping children, who are already more prone to being antsy, pent up for these long hours may also have an adverse effect on learning and attention span. It has even been discovered that “beyond improved health and fitness, physical activity enhances concentration and attention” as well as “improves attendance and academic performance” (Physical Activity in Schools, 2014). Only a small 4% of the strong states were three times as likely to meet the recommendation of 150 minutes of exercise per week. There is a lack of value on physical education in our school systems, but fortunately, we are starting to see advocates to get the students moving. The First Lady, Michelle Obama, is a strong promoter in this initiative. She started a campaign called Let’s Move! Active Schools which summons administrators, parents, and teachers to get encourage movement.
Another growing model for teaching children the value of nutrition is called Farm-to-School (Sinnott, 2011). Farm-to-School shows children the path that food takes to get from farm to table, and also supports local farmers. It aims to educate children how to grow their own food, where their food comes from and why that matters, how what they choose to eat affects their bodies and the environment around them. (Sinnott, 2011).
As effective or ineffective as some of these programs may be, the nutrition of children doesn’t solely depend on public school education. Parents largely have an influence and a responsibility to teach their children the value of eating well and being active, and more often than not have more impact on how their child perceives nutrition because of learned and pre-contemplated behaviors that happen within the home (Sinnott, 2011). Parents who support active lifestyles and encourage healthy eating by having family meals prepared at home, fruits and vegetables offered as snacks, and options for outdoor activities over video games or TV watching are more likely to instill healthy behaviors in their children which will carry over into the classroom education (Dietz, 2001). Without the support at home, it is more likely that children will learn or develop poor habits such as eating out often, which usually consists of fried food in one form or another, and opting to stay in to play rather than go outside.
Schools play a fundamental role in improving and intensifying efforts to promote physical activity, healthy eating and develop skills that can be carried out throughout adulthood. This falls under the fundamental mission of schools of educating young people that can positively affects and contribute in many ways to society. This battle is winnable with the step-up roles that board members. legislators, educators, and leader have taken to meet the challenge of improving healthy environment for the younger population. Through their leadership and adaptation of programs, communities have identified the obstacles and have slowly started to change with effective strategies, such as, implementing health related curriculums in schools that create awareness and lead to a change.
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