Health Promotion Intervention - Physical Activity among Obese Children - Term Paper Example

Published Health Promotion Intervention Contents Acknowledgement 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG OBESE CHILDREN 4 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Definition of the Issue 4 1.1.1. Health Promotion 4 1.1.2. The Ottawa Charter 4 1.1.3 Jakarta Declaration 4 1.2 Rationale 5 1.1.2. Complications of diabetes 5 1.1.3. Epidemiology 6 1.2.4. Cost 6 CHAPTER 2 7 2.1 Intervention 7 2.2 Limitations of the project 8 3.0. CONCLUSION 9 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 9 6.0 REFERENCES 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Heath is an important aspect in any society. Without a healthy community the society is bound to loss a lot of money. Generally, people determine their healthy states. It is upon every living being to take the responsibility to ensure that he is in good state. Health intervention is a process where an individual or a group of people design a plan to alter distasteful health risks in a specific group of persons. This paper analyses a journal on switch play intervention with the aim of reducing cases of diabetes and overweight among children living in Australia. It examines the application of Ottawa charter in designing the programs and gives recommendation at the end. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG OBESE CHILDREN 1. Introduction 1.1 Definition of the Issue 1.1.1. Health Promotion Health is a condition of absolute bodily, societal and psychological welfare (World Health Organization, 1986). A person who is healthy does not need to be characterized by a pure non existence of an infection or illness. This helps to reduce chances of persons dying. Intervention helps people not to spend a lot of money as they undergo treatment. It also reduces cases of disability due to negative effects which may arise due to unhealthy condition. Intervention makes people to socialize liberally since they are strong when they are health. A nation that is healthy has an additional merit economically because it doesn’t spend a lot of money to buy drugs, to organize for health campaigns and seminars. 1.1.2. The Ottawa Charter The Ottawa Charter has five major action areas which include building healthy public policies. The core goal is to create awareness of health consequences of their actions to people to enhance them to take responsibility of their actions. Another action area of Ottawa Charter is to create supportive environments. The conservation of environment is a key strategy in health promotion (Ainley et al, 2006). Strengthening Community Actions is an action area of Ottawa Charter, whereby the communities are empowered to take ownership of their destinies and endeavors. It also works to develop personal skills; this enables people to take control over their environment and their own health. In addition, the Ottawa charter provides an action area in reorienting health services. This enables the health sector to move beyond its responsibility of providing curative and clinical services and foster health promotion. 1.1.3 Jakarta Declaration In the 21st century, health promotion is one of the main areas of concentration. The Jakarta Declaration made with the aim of promoting health in this century considers participatory approach as the most important approach. It has considered health promotion as a worthy while investment considering the perceived benefits. Though there have been approaches which have been applied in promoting health in the past, there is need for a new approach to deal with upcoming challenges (Webb et al, 2007). The priorities included in this declaration include promotion of social responsibility in matters relating to health, increasing the amount of resources invested in the sector of health promotion, expanding and consolidating continued partnership, empowering individuals, raise the level of community participation in dealing with health related issues, action based health promotion and infrastructure development (WHO, 1998). All these are geared towards attaining a healthy community. In reducing diabetes incidence rate among children living in Australia, this declaration has a great impact due to recommended approaches (Ewles & Simnett 2001). 1.2 Rationale Obesity is a serious health problem whose prevalence worldwide is alarmingly high. According to Booth et al 2003, the prevalence of obesity in Australia is rising in children. It is estimated that one in five children in Australia is overweight or obese. Obesity has been considered as an epidemic due to its accelerating rate among children in Australia (Ainley et al, 2006). Obesity results in social problems like low self esteem which hampers with the development of children in school as they interact. A lot of effort and commitment is required once a child is overweight or obese to help him or her regain a healthy weight. This is because ideally obesity and overweight should be prevented due to the risk factors associated with it. Prevention of obesity among young children is very important considering that it is a chronic disease that has no cure. In addition, the cost of insulin to maintain normal blood sugars is very high. 1.1.2. Complications of diabetes Apart from stigmatization experienced by diabetic children, they may also develop other complications such as heart diseases, high blood pressure, breathing problems, and in the worst cases death. If a diabetic person develops a wound, it takes longer to heal and thus has to be more care to avoid cuts and burns (Webb et al, 2007). The issues of low esteem results to poor performance as children fail to attend classes or associate with their classmates. 1.1.3. Epidemiology Obesity incidence rate among young children is accelerating while the prevalence rate is on the increase. It is estimated that in every 5 adolescents and children in Austalia, one is either obese or overweight. These can be attributed to the sendentary lifestyle being lived by these children as a result of increased use of internet, electronic games and watching T.V shows. According to the journal on evaluating the effectiveness of switch play, children between 5 and ten years of age watch the television for an average of 2.5hours per day. There is also an evidence of reduced physical activity associated with lack of necessary skills. According to a research by Okeyand Booth (2000) increasing a child’s fundamental motor skills proportionally increases their participation in physical activities not only in their childhood but also in the lifespan. In 2001 among Australian children aged 10-12 years, 10% were obese and 23% were overweight (WHO, 2000).This confirms a very high rate of obesity and overweight throughout Australia among preschoolers and calls for urgent measures to combat this epidemic. This can be attributed to unhealthy eating habits whereby sugary and fatty foods are highly consumed by children instead of healthy foods. Another contributing factor is lack or minimal physical activity as noted among Australian children. In addition, environmental factors contribute to the rising prevalence of obesity among Australian children for instance studies shows that on average most children spend their time playing electronic games, using the computers and watching television while snacking (Booth et al, 2006). This is quite disturbing as it comes along with a lot of health problems like cardiomyopathy, type 2 diabetes, respiratory disorders, and sleep apnoea. Those people with disability have not been spared by this. The fact that most schools provide facilities only suitable for the “normal” child has resulted to discrimination of those living with various forms of disabilities. These people also require supportive environment for exercises. 1.2.4. Cost A lot of money that would have otherwise been used for other purposed resulting to development is directed to taking care of diabetic children. This group of people has many years to live and living totally on synthetic insulin is costly and tedious. People with diabetic develop complications if they fail to follow instruction. This is another reason why prevention is the better option. For instance, some diabetic patients have to take Insulin twice a day. CHAPTER 2 2.1 Intervention It is in this respect that the switch play program was developed as a school based intervention to reduce cases of obesity and overweight among children. It targeted on the children aged 10 years switching to physical activities for leisure rather than computer games and watching television shows. Obesity has a number of health consequences including hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, type two diabetes, psychological disturbances, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis (World Health Organization, 1998). The main this program was to test the effectiveness of school based intervention in maintaining healthy weight among those children aged 10. It was based on ecological theory, behavioral choice theory and cognitive theory. These theories are based on the idea that behaviours involving physical activities can be mediated or changed under the influence of individual, environmental and social factors. Evaluation of these programs was based on feedbacks from parents, self evaluation and social support. The program included creation of awareness and reinforcement of activities through social support (Salmon et al, 2007) Physical activity prevents obesity by boosting the rate at the body metabolizes fats and carbohydrates. The Australian government has really supported this intervention, for instance in 2005 a $3 million project was initiated in the effort fighting against childhood obesity. Advancing and boosting control over one’s health is promoting health. It indulges a complete social and political progression. This is geared towards escalating one’s potentials and skills. 2.2 Limitations of the project Though developed programs take the role of exercise into consideration, they often fail to incorporate other related factors. Diabetes is a complicated complication that requires diverse measures to be considered. For instance, one can exercise on a daily basis and fail to loss or maintain a given weight due to poor feeding habits and genetic factors (Webb et al, 2007). As a result, programs designed for this purpose must be planned after a comprehensive research has been done. The journal also fails to include some Ottwa chatter condition. The switch play program advocate for exercise but do not consider the issue on availability of field where the children should exercise. In addition, the issue on mental health has been ignored. The programs have not been inclusive thus discriminating people living with disabilities. This is seen in that no specialized activities were incorporated to cater for students living with disabilities. Those children who are overweight should be offered counseling services to assist them in weight reduction and raising their self esteem. This program also failed in that it did not consider all stake holders in all stages of design and implementation. According to the journal, the parents had a vague idea about switch play and did not fully understand its purpose and importance. This is indicated in that 45% of parent stated that there was a change in behaviour among their children while 49% did not see any change. If they would have been involved in accordance to the Ottwa chatter, their involvement rate would have been higher. 3.0. CONCLUSION The programs that have been implemented have failed in that they community members and other stakeholders are ignored in the process of designing programs. If the conditions on Ottawa chatter are considered in designing programs, the success rate of such programs would increase. This includes the provision of adequate fields and facilities for the children to utilize. If the prevalence and incidence rates of diabetes reduce among children, the impact will be felt even among the adults. Diabetes is a chronic condition and the incidence rate will also be law among the middle aged and the old if the programs succeed (Alison, 2005). An all inclusive environment should be developed in every school to promote health among all groups of people. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The community members should be involved when designing, implementing and evaluating programs aimed at reducing incidences of overweight. 2. More research should be done on how to intervene how cultural issues have contributed to the rise of diabetes incidence rate. 3. The community should contribute by providing play ground so that they can own the programs hence show commitment. 4. Stakeholders’ involvement in the entire process should be encouraged. 5. Policies on provision of game facilities in schools should be reviewed to ensure that every school has adequate facilities as well as the required field to encourage children to engage in games. 6. Nutrition projects should be included in the physical activity programs. 7. To ensure that game facilities and play grounds are all inclusive to enhance the participation of those people living with various disabilities. 6.0 REFERENCES WHO (World Health Organization) 2000. Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. Geneva: WHO. Ainley, J., Withers, G., Underwood, C., & Frig, T. (2006). National Survey of Health and Well- being Promotion Policies and Practices in Secondary Schools. Report to the Australian Principals' Associations Professional Develop. Booth, M, Okely AD, Denney-Wilson, E, Hardy L, Yang, B, Dobbins T, NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) 2004 Summary Report. NSW Health, 2006. Booth, L., Chey, T., Wake, M., Norton, K., Hesekth, K., Dollman, J. et al. (2003). Change in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young Australians, 1969–1997. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77, 29–36 World Health Organization. (1998). Health promotion glossary. Retrieved April 20, 2010 from http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/hp_glossary_en.pdf. National Health and Medical Research Council, (2003). Dietary guidelines for children and adolescents in Australia NHMRC. Webb, K. Rutishauser, H. Marks, C.Masters, G.& Leeder, R. (2007) “Nutrition surveys or surveillance: one night stands or a long term commitment?” Medical Journal of Australia vol 185 (5) pp 248-249. Yetter, G. (2009). Exercise-based school obesity prevention programs: an overview. Oklahoma State University. www.interscience.wiley.com, retrived on 25 April 2010. Ewles L, Simnett I (2001) Health promotion - a practical guide. London : Balliere Tindall World Health Organisation (WHO) (1998). Jakarta Declaration on health promotion into the 21st century. Washington : Rev Panam Salud Publica. Alison, K ( 2005). A health promotion concept. 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