IDENTIFYING ONESELF AND PURPOSE

I am contacting a kindergarten teacher, Kimmie Peay, BSN, who has worked at James M. Brown Elem School for over 12 years.  She will be the contact/resource.  I am contacting her to see there are any current programs/outreaches in place that revolve around healthy eating habits.  She has already informed me that there are workshops which teachers are trying to get off the ground involving parents. The driving point of these workshops is that “It all starts at Home”.  I have also reached out to the local grocery store “Ingles” to possibly conduct an educational tour of the grocery store. While this idea sounds insignificant to the major goal, these young kids only know what their parents teach them about food choices at home and the grocery store.  Local store tours will include taste tests of new fresh produce, discussing how to shop for a variety, shop for color. Always shop on the outside aisles first because that is where the fresh and unprocessed foods are placed.

SYNOPSIS OF YOUR COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

Seneca, located in Oconee County South Carolina, had a population of 8,479 by July 2018. The population is diverse both interims of ethnic background and age with the major racial group being whites at 63.5%. The population is predominantly female at 55.4% while the young people below 18 years make up 21.2% of the population. There is one major hospital that attends to the county with the major causes of death being cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

PRIORITY HEALTH RISK/HAZARD.

The major health concern for Seneca is obesity among children. Statistics from the CDC show that in the period 2015 to 2016, the prevalence of obesity among children was 18.5% in the U.S. thereby affecting more than 13.7 million children. It is good to note that children between 2-5 years have an obesity prevalence of 13.9% (Hales et al., 2017). This just elucidates the seriousness of child obesity in the U.S. as a whole. In Seneca, the younger generation has not been spared as obesity is on the rise. With the major source of information about healthy eating for children being parents, parents have continuously been unable to control the eating habits of their children. With obesity being related to low productivity as argued by Goettler, Grosse & Sonntag (2017), the issue of childhood obesity can have long term effects in that the young people are the future leaders and if obesity is widespread can affect national productivity.

The main cause of childhood obesity is lack of exercise, energy-rich diets and sedentary lifestyle. Children end up consuming excess energy and fewer development elements. The result is the accumulation of fats in the body leading to obesity. While children form eating habits at an early age, parents play a significant role in the development of such habits (Kuźbicka & Rachoń, 2013).  In the fight against obesity among the young people, parents must take an active role especially in ensuring children take healthy meals. It is significant for parents to instill a healthy lifestyle in their children at an early age. Obesity is connected with many health problem such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, glucose intolerance and liver disease others (Sahoo et al., 2015). For children, obesity is associated with psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, stigma and social problems such as bullying. Furthermore, obese children are more likely to reach adulthood while still obese and face other health issues as well as a severe likelihood of such health issues. It is thus significant for the community to control obesity at a young age to avoid present and future health problems.

PLAN FOR RESOLVING CHILD OBESITY

To resolve the child obesity issue in the community, I plan to undertake several programs for both students and parents. The goal is to moderate the high prevalence of obesity among school-going children. A widespread sensitization of this health risk is significant in informing the community. Sensitization will be done through education. In collaboration with Northside Elementary, Ravenel Elementary and Keowee Elementary, I intend to run several programs to educate both parents and children on eating habits. Apart from the educative programs, I will also conduct educational tours for the children to educate them on effective shopping for a healthy meal.

Kimmie Peay, a teacher at James M. Brown Elementary school is best suited to meet the needs of the nursing plan. The plan is to conduct educative programs for both parents and children. First, being able to congregate the parents to consent and participate in the programs will require a partnership with the local schools to give such programs credibility. The educative programs will require meeting places as well as other accessories for use during training. Partnering with local schools will provide the necessary physical places for holding the programs meetings as well as providing other required items as required. The teachers in these schools are already conversant with ongoing programs as well as with effective teaching methods for both children and parents. While as a nurse I can develop the training manuals, the teachers are well suited to deliver the actual teaching in that they are specially trained for that. Educating the children on how to eat healthy snacks, fruits and other foods will be better done by introducing them to such items physically in the store.

Schools as partners have the necessary connection to acquire the needed assets. They have access to both parents, children and o can facilitate the physical spaces required to conduct educating programs. Again, Teachers in such schools are trained to teach and are well suited to organize and lead training programs in their schools. These schools can provide the most important assets which are teachers and physical spaces for meetings. Kimmie Peay as the major asset has access to children, physical space in the school, parents and children. She is thus at the center of the plan. Without her partnership, it would be hard to convince the children let alone the parents on the benefits of the educative programs. Teachers are trusted with education and thus Kimmie Peay as an asset will bestow the credibility required to make the programs appealing and successful. She is passionate about the idea and believes that involving parents will be very influential considering that everything starts at home. It is encouraging to note that teachers at her school had already initiated workshops involving parents to sensitize them on the effects of unhealthy eating to their children. With the collaboration of Kimmie Peay, I am positive that the plan will bear positive fruits to the community as a whole as expected.

References

Goettler, A., Grosse, A., & Sonntag, D. (2017). Productivity loss due to overweight and obesity: a systematic review of indirect costs. BMJ open, 7(10), e014632.

Hales, C. M., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2017). Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015–2016.

Kuźbicka, K., & Rachoń, D. (2013). Bad eating habits as the main cause of obesity among children. Pediatr Endocrinol Diabetes Metab, 19(3), 106-110.

Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A. K., Sofi, N. Y., Kumar, R., & Bhadoria, A. S. (2015). Childhood obesity: causes and consequences. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 4(2), 187.