I interviewed the school nurse, Cara she has been a school nurse for about twenty years. The school district has three nurses. They used to rotate between the primary, intermediate, junior high and the high school. They are now station at the school that they work at full time.
One of the insights that I gain from interviewing Cara, was that she stated that she see children that are obese more now than when she started working twenty years ago. She stated that with more state education guidelines that is required; there is a reduction in Physical Education. Another interesting fact that I learned was that she see more children with high blood pressure and that are diabetics. Several years ago the majority of those health issues were seen in adults and not as much in children.
Cara spoke about the local churches from the community that gives the children food to take home on the weekends. She was concern that the majority of the food was unhealthy for the children to consume. I can understand why she would be concern being a nurse, the children need to snack on healthy snacks. The community is concern that the children have food for the weekend. They were concern that the children were not getting enough food over the weekend. I can understand that also. I have a daycare, we had some children that mom had to work on Sunday’s so we agree to watch the children if they could to church with us. The mom was excited and stated that they could go with us. She drops them off in the morning they had breakfast before we left the house. When we arrive to church after Sunday school they had a healthy snack which consists of a fruit, juice and a bagel. After we left church we went out to lunch. One Sunday I remember seeing one of the children putting a burger in his pocket. He stated that he was going to save it for later on. I told him he could eat that one and that we would buy him another one to take home for later. He was so excited and you should have seen the look on his face as he enjoyed that burger.
One of the strategy that I would used, would be to inform the local churches that are preparing the food bags for the weekend to place more healthy snacks in the bags, along with the new nutritional guidelines in the bags. Many parents may not know that the food pyramid is not being used that it is now a plate. Children may be able to see this every week and can learn from it even if their parents do not have a chance to educate them about it.
I feel that every opportunity that we get to discuss childhood obesity with the professional that we work with, we should. I was speaking with some of the staff that I work with. I shared with them in serving the children, we might want to use more family style. This will give the child an opportunity to decide what they want to try and eat. We should encourage the children to try and eat more fruits and vegetable. In doing this it may not be as much waste with the food. We need to also may the food more colorful when serving it to children.
Cara also stated that when it comes to childhood obesity she felt that it all comes together and it end with the health professionals. They should encourage, teach and reach the children in how to eat properly. The school participate in a grant funded program called CATCH, this program allow the head cook to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables for the students to eat daily.
She stated that children are getting easy stuff to eat, such as microwave dinners; parents are too busy to cook and prepare a home cook meal.
The effective that I would like to make in my community, setting would be able to promote a childhood obesity awareness week. In this week I would place an ad in the local paper, have a family fun Bar B Que. I will be cooking all healthy foods, had out flyers with information about the food plate, have pictures of what is healthy and what is not. There will be a day that I would have the parents to share their most healthy food dish in pot luck. We can have the parents to share healthy recipes and have then combined in a cookbook. There will be physical activity games for children to do and when prizes. The prizes will consist of gym shoes, T-shirts, socks, and sweats shirts. These will clothes that the children and exercise and play freely in.
When we lived in Missouri, the local hospital had a program at the mall that promoted physical fitness in young children (ages 3-6). For $1, parents could drop their child off at the storefront in the mall for an hour and people from the hospital would do physical activites with the children (song & dance, etc.). My oldest daughter went to this program twice a week and she loved it. You got a punch card and the children received prizes when they had a certain number of punches. It was a great way to promote healthy children and at a very low cost.
ReplyDeleteWe have done nutrition programs at our school and often find that parents cook a separate meal (frozen food) for their children because they don't like what the parents are eating. I think if parents stopped doing this the children would be more willing to eat a healthier diet and try new foods.
Thanks for the great idea, I am going to use that. I will start off with a $2.00 fee at the daycare. I will compile a list of physical activities and the give a ways will consist of items that can be used in P.E. For example, gym shoes, t-shirt, and socks.
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest not calling it "obesity awareness"...the name may scare a lot of people away. And what teen is going to want others to acknowledge that they are going to an obese event. I think your focus needs to be on living healthy and physical fitness. We live in a technology based society were teens and young adults are focused on their computers, hand held devises, xboxes, etc. Gone are the days of teen dances and activities that supported socialization and physical activity. More events for young kids and teenagers need to be free so all youth have the opportunity to attend events. I think it would be interesting to do a survey within communities to find out how many children from low income are on sport teams, participating in dance class, tumbling, etc. I believe the numbers will be small...
ReplyDeleteOur local hospital does a healthy summer camp each year for two weeks. Its free for children Pre K - 8th grade, a great event for children and they look for kids to also volunteer to run it. That way they are being active as well.
As a society we need to focus on eating healthy and being active.We have to find a way to combat against ad campaign that focus on children eating junk and find campaigns that show kids out and about exploring their community.
Currently are daycare is participating in Let's Move program Sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama...we are creating several activities to get families moving with their children now in hopes of creating a lifestyle change. We have speakers coming in talking about healthy snacks you can make at home on any budget, as well as professionals who coach sports.
Thanks for the advice I appreciate that , I am writing my paper on childhood obesity and I must remember that.
DeleteThis is such a great topic to look in to. I work in a day care and we have some children that are obese at 4 years old. When they nap they snore loudly, they also breathe heavy when just sitting at the table playing with clay. I did a paper on obesity in children about three years ago. The effects on diabetes and high blood pressure is sad. At the day care they hired a nutritionist. She has met with parents and did workshops called GO SLOW WHOA. She brought in Yoga for kids, it is fun when you see changes, on of my children in school age no longer needs an action plan. Mom worked hard with him at home. In school age day care I keep an eye out on him that he is spending enough time running around at the gym with friends and not just sitting at the side. I have been teaching the plate concept with my children. I have been using a Interactive Nutrition site. They have been enjoying studding the plate and not doing the pyramid.
ReplyDeleteIt's cheaper and easier to eat that very fattening food such as 'Ramen' noodles, mac and cheese etc. Filling and fattening.
DeleteI like the obesity concern. You have some good ideas. I think that obesity is a concern for a lot of parents. I know that parents needs more resources on how to get their chiildren to eat healty when they are not around. I also feel that video games,computers, and television is also the reason children do not exercise enough. They sit in front of the game and television and eat foods that is not good for them. I think it is a good idea to make the community aware of obesity and your plan to help children. You will be surprised at how mucn concern the coommunity has about obesity. More family outdoor activities will make a difference in the lives of obese people.
ReplyDeletePatty,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your posts during this class. You are a very positive and energetic person and seem to very interested in making life better for young children. Good luck in your "war on obesity." I wish you well and am sure that you will make positive impacts on the children you touch. It is important to keep educating the parents because if they know better they will more than likely do better. You seem to be very passionate about your career path and that is very refreshing. Good luck! Jennifer