Running Head: Project Proposal

Introduction:
According to the "School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity:
Recommendations and Reports," (2015), healthy eating along with physical activities are very
important in the prevention of a number of chronic diseases; heart attack, stroke and cancer in
children below age of 18 years (p.2). On the other hand the data which presents the Prevalence
of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 219 years is as followed. Is
very high among the school students (male and females); according to Fryar, Carroll, & Ogden
(2014), the number of overweight and obese girls and boys are as followed. In the year of 20112012 in United States; 15.4 % males are overweight and 16.7% are obese whereas, 14.5%
females are overweight and 17.2% females are obese (p.4).therefor, it can be said that the
phenomenon of obesity among school students is high and it needs attention of health care
management personnel to pay attention on this issue.

Title of the project:

Promoting healthier foods at school where parents can only

pack healthy meals and water.

The reason for taking this title as a prevention project is to prevent the rising issue
of obesity among schools students. This issue is being caused by the dietary intake
and use of beverages. The assessment process highlighted the issue and the
literature proved that less work is being done in this area therefore more work and
intervention are needed to be done.

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Aims and Objectives of the intervention program:

The aim of this project is to promote the healthier foods and water in schools and to reduce the
less healthy nutritional behaviors that can enhance the chances of being obese.
Objectives for this program are to;
1. Encourage parents to wards the healthier diet for their children to prevent them from
child hood obesity and its future complications
2. Promote healthier food (balanced diet) in schools
3. Provide safe and pure water and to inhibit the use of beverages among school children
4. Give awareness to the parents, students and teachers related to these issues by involving
the health management related persons.

Background and rationale:

Heinen et, al. (2014), had explored many facts related to the obesity and increasing weight
among children. The rate of childhood obesity is increasing rapidly among the children.
According to WHO (world health organization) in 2010, approximately 43 million of the school
children are found to be obese. Its prevalence is 6.7% around the globe which is high. According
the WHO data, 15-32% of the European school students are the known cases of obesity or over
weight. Furthermore, 30% of the English school children are obese and overweight. Thus, it has
been seen that the growing rate of the obesity among children is causing many serious issues.
This is infact giving alarms to the world that this issue can cause pre diabetes, type 2 diabetes,
hypertension and such conditions which were common among the older population. Obesity is
also affecting the childrens psychological wellbeing and interpersonal relations (p.5). There is
evidence which shows that the obesity is very dangerous in child hood and this may lead towards
a number of cardiovascular complications. Frieden, Dietz, & Collins, (2010) elucidated that the
child hood obesity is epidemic in USA. One from 6 children is a case of obesity which is three

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times more than 1970s. Furthermore, it is explored that the main cause for the cardiovascular
problems is obesity (p.357). Therefore, it is very important to know that obesity and over weight
in childhood leads to a number of life threatening issues. There is always a need of more and
more work in this field to reduce the risk of life threatening diseases among children of school
age globally.

Methodology and its effects on the population and health

issues:
Ethically the permission should be taken prior to this study. According to Story, Nanney &
Schwartz (2009) the schools are helpful in the prevention of obesity and changing the diet styles
(p.73). This interventional program can be done in schools and even at community levels. There
are following ways that will help the health care providers to implement on this interventional
program. Following, methods can be used for the implementations and implementation can be
done in 2 phases. Phase 1; includes the teachings to the families and students and teachers in
schools and communities. (Explain them the importance of proper nutrition and diet). Whereas,
in the 2nd phase of the implementation; the stockholders will be involved in the provision of new
healthier food and pure water.
The sample from the students will be taken from one school or from two schools. The
sample will be containing 20-30students who are obese are overweight. Sampling will be done
by convenience sample method. This method is useful in intervention as this will help to fine the
target population and target sample (obese Students). Additionally the target population will be
the students who are obese or overweight and are school students with age limits from 2-17
years. Inclusive and exclusive criteria should be settled prior sampling. All the obese children or
overweight children with a particular weight and hip to waist ratio will be the part of this

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interventional group. One sample will be control (interventions) and other will be noninterventional and comparison will be done to see the differences after particular months of
implementation. The routine eating habit of the children will be noted and according to this the
diet and nutrition plan will be made.

Evaluation:
Evaluation will be done in different ways. Patients weight will be checked prior implementation
and after 2-3 months. The evaluation will show about the implementation. Hip to waist ratio will
be decreased, students inter relationships and psychological status will improve and lastly the
behavior of the parents towards the interventions will be seen (either parents are involved in the
implementation of the interventions or not). The reduction in packed food consumption in the
schools and increased juice of fresh juices and vegetables will help in the evaluation. The
students should be given low fat and low carbohydrate diet in schools, milk and 100% pure
juices without any kind of additives or flavors. Milk that contains proteins is recommended. On
the other hand in the states law it is clear that the students must provide with pure water in
school day without any charges and fresh fruits should be given (Healthy Students, Healthy
Schools: Revised Guidance for Implementing the Massachusetts School Nutrition Standards for
Competitive Foods and Beverages," 2012, 9). Evaluation is the method which tells about the
progress of the process and what the amendments are needed to improve the implementation
phase. Evaluation can be categorized as ongoing evaluation (during the project) and at the end of
the project. The former one is called formative evaluation, whereas the latter is known as
summative evaluation.

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Strengths and limitations of the program:

Strengths are including the importance of the obesity reduction interventional program. The
parents and management of the schools will come to know about the importance of healthier
foods and the long term complications of the obesity. This study can be disseminated and
information can be used for future studies in this regard. Childhood obesity is a global issue and
it needs attention. Therefore, this study is helpful in this regard. The limitations of this study
includes the limited sample size, less funding, students attitude towards their changing habits
and the attitude of the parents towards obesity. The sample size and limited information may be a
limitation of this project. The eating behavior in the routine outside the school may change the
results.

Conclusion:
According to (Population-based approaches to childhood obesity prevention by WHO, 2012) it is
an easy way to control obesity among children, but this requires continuous focus and
encouragement to do this. The class room is a place where the students used to share their food
with each other. In the classrooms the celebrations are being done like, birthday celebration,
healthy diet in these occasions will be helpful to promote the health of the children (p.16). It has
been noted that the interventions when implemented produce effects. These must be evaluated as
the evaluation is the integral part of the evaluation. Ineffectiveness of the interventions may be a
result of non-proper evaluation.in nutshell it can be said that the obesity is a very common and
rising issues and this can cause a number of cardiovascular and diabetic problems. To make a
change in the behavior is not easy, but continuous struggle and encouragement can bring positive
changes. This project will add information, but more studies are needed to work on this topic.

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6
References:

Deckelbaum, R. J., & Williams, C. L. (2001). Childhood Obesity: The Health Issue. Obesity
Research, 9(S11), 239S-243S. doi:10.1038/oby.2001.125
Division, P. P. (2000). Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools [2013]. Victoria:
British Columbia Ministry of Health.
Frieden, T. R., Dietz, W., & Collins, J. (2010). Reducing Childhood Obesity Through Policy
Change: Acting Now To Prevent Obesity. Health Affairs, 29(3), 357-363.
doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0039
Fryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2014). Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity
Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 19631965 Through 2011
2012. National Center for Health Statistics, 1-6. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_11_12/obesity_child_11_12.pdf
Healthy Students, Healthy Schools: Revised Guidance for Implementing the Massachusetts
School Nutrition Standards for Competitive Foods and Beverages. (2012). Mass in
motion, 1-53. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/mass-inmotion/school-nutrition-guide.pdf
Karnik, S., & Kanekar, A. (2015). Childhood Obesity: A Global Public Health Crisis. School
Nutrition and Activity, 3-15. doi:10.1201/b18227-3
Kaufman-Shriqui, V., Fraser, D., Friger, M., Geva, D., Bilenko, N., Vardi, H., Shahar, D.
(2016). Effect of a School-Based Intervention on Nutritional Knowledge and Habits of
Low-Socioeconomic School Children in Israel: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled
Trial. Nutrients,8(4), 234. doi:10.3390/nu8040234

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Population-based approaches to childhood obesity prevention. (2012). Geneva, Switzerland:

World Health Organization.
School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Recommendations
and Reports. (2015). School Nutrition and Activity, 60(5), 247-407. doi:10.1201/b1822717
Heinen MM, Murrin C, Daly L, OBrien J, Heavey P, Kilroe J, OBrien M, Scully
H, Mulhern LM, Lynam A, Hayes C, ODwyer U, Eldin N, Kelleher CC [2014]. The
Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) in the Republic of Ireland: Findings
from 2008, 2010 and 2012. Dublin: Health Service Executive.
Story, M., Nanney, M. S., & Schwartz, M. B. (2009). Schools and Obesity Prevention: Creating
School Environments and Policies to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical
Activity.Milbank Quarterly, 87(1), 71-100. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00548.x
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278864/