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What should be the action for Healthy Kids Organization?
Action for Healthy Kids strives to prevent obesity in children. It was established in the year 2002 and has its headquarters at Chicago, United States of America (USA). It fights against childhood obesity, physical inactivity and undernourishment by assisting schools to become healthier and better places so that the kids or children can live a healthy life (Phulkerd et al. 2016). It has an association with enthusiastic volunteers such as parents, students, teachers, experts and many more to create healthy alterations in the food habits and lifestyle of the children at home as well as in school. Every member of Action for Healthy Kids Organization has a definite role to play in eradicating childhood obesity in the nation and encourages promotion of health and well-being (Cook-Cottone et al. 2013).
Its grassroots endeavors are supported by an association of over eighty organizations, government agencies and corporations. By working jointly, they are providing keys to the children to achieve good health as well as intellectual success by meeting them with the children in the classroom, on the playground, in the cafeteria. They provide the lessons regarding nutrition and physical activities along with the alterations that make it probable for them to consume a nutritional diet and play energetically on a daily basis. Its vision is to make every child active, healthy and ready to gain knowledge (Swinburn, B. and Wood, A., 2013).
Its mission is to mobilize the professionals of school, families as well as the communities to make a start in order to lead a life which is associated with healthy eating along with the need of physical activities. They also aim to make the schools healthier so that the children can thrive efficiently.
The values and ideologies of Action for Healthy Kids are focused around education, guidance and prevention. Through the implementation of the programs of education along with the distribution of resources as well as equipment, it aims to educate and encourage the children, adolescents, teachers, educators and family members with the required skills and knowledge involving the prevention of obesity. Within the organization, there is a strong emphasis on education and encouragement to grow, empower and support in every possible way (Cook-Cottone et al. 2013
Health Issue: Obesity in children.
In the United States of America, about a quarter of 2-6 year olds and one-third of children of school-going age are obese or overweight. The rate of obesity tends to be higher and have enhanced more speedily over time. Therefore, it is a serious issue of health that needs to be managed quickly.
As a result of the health issue of obesity, this policy is advocating to prevent obesity in children and adolescents.
The guiding document of Action for Healthy Kids, ‘commitment to change’, offers instructors, parents, health volunteers and administrators of the school with a plan that will help altering schools into an improved and healthier environments for children by:
• Making sure that all the schools are directed by a recurrently updated policy of wellness
• To offer the students from pre-schools to 12th grade, the perceptive programs of eating healthy food and perform physical activities.
• Ensuring that the kids as well as the youngsters employ one hour of exercises or physical activity on a daily basis.
• Making sure that all foods of the school meet the standards of nutrition which is promoted by the dietary guidelines.
The World Health organization (WHO) describes learning and access to sustain the services with a main influence on the health of the individual along with wellbeing. From the mission and vision of Action for Healthy Kids it is evident that this healthcare organization uses these two approaches (Phulkerd et al. 2016). It aspires to empower the children and the adolescents with the essential knowledge and skills for the concerned individuals with the discussed issue of health to take steps confidently, carefully, and acquire the benefit of good conditions of health and wellbeing (Cummings et al. 2015).
Action for Healthy Kids possesses a powerful alliance with above seventy five national organizations and associations representing leaders in the field of nutrition, health, education, business, fitness. It also includes agencies that are involved with the government along with some of the other organizations that care and serve for the children and adolescents. The vision and mission of these organizations are equivalent to those with the Action for Healthy Kids. In comparison with them, Action for Healthy Kids potentially possesses additional power to put into practice a number of ways for preventing childhood obesity (Castro et al. 2013).
In the year 2013-2014, Action for Healthy Kids worked hard to bring out the lessons of nutrition and physical activity, grants and programs to over twenty nine thousands schools and their students.
There are a number of statistics concerning the health issue in the statistical reports as well as the media. While the majority of the statistics below involves children aged between 5-15 years, some represent the complete population particularly in consideration to the overall cost of this issue of health (Marmot and Bell 2012)..
250 children in U.S suffered from major diseases of the heart in 2012-2013 (Centre for Diseases 2013)
55 adolescents lost their lives from cardiac failure and these numbers are escalating (ABC news, 2013)
35% of the deaths in U.S were of the children and adolescents aged between 5-19 years (Genesis 2012)
34% of the children in U.S are still suffering from obesity and this issue is alarming with a high rate (ABC News, 2014)
Media Quotes:
Tom Colicchio termed the findings as a ‘serious concern’ (ABC news, 2013)
‘Five children died from cardiac failure’ (news.com, 2012)
‘Dieticians and the other Health care professionals calls for compulsory training in schools and institutions’ (ABC News, 2014)
‘45 deaths of children between October 5 2013 and February 12 2014’ (Action for Healthy Kids)
According to the evidences, this health issue is concerned with behavior of the children and the adolescents aged between 5-19 years. It involves the improper eating habits and lack of physical activities that contributes to this issue of health in children as well as adolescents (Phulkard et al. 2016). It combined with reduced skills along with inadequate knowledge regarding this health issue, its harms and future deterioration conditions are widespread in this age group (Raine et al. 2013).. By the implementation of a policy to make sure there is a compulsory inclusion of health and safety measures along with an accredited training program in the secondary schools. It strives to prevent obesity in the children and adolescents (Department of Education and Training 2015).
Presently, training in primary and secondary schools in the United States of America aims to educate 140,000 students in 2016-2017 (Swinburn et al. 2015). The program emphasizes to teach children and the adolescents on how to employ a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy diet food and by indulging in exercise and physical activities on a daily basis. Even though this training program is essentially for the primary school children, this policy expects to expand the training to the secondary school children as well as they are more prepared to grasp the skills (Cook-Cottone et al. 2013).
Action for Healthy Kids believes that training should be a compulsory course established in the primary as well as the secondary schools of the United States of America by January 2017. This also aims at having a definite goal of accomplishing a 15% decrease in the rates of occurrence of obesity in the children and the adolescents over the subsequent years (Fry and Zask 2016). Action for Healthy Kids possess a powerful alliance with more than seventy five national organizations and involvements representing leaders in the field of nutrition, health, education, business, fitness and similar agencies involved with the government. It also includes some of the other organizations that care and serve for the children and adolescents. The policy aims to target the areas that have a majority of cases related with obesity of childhood in the United States of America. The students of the secondary school represent an ultimate test populace, with expectations of intensifying the policy across the United States of America (Nishtar et al. 2016).
SMART Objective for Development of Training programs for preventing obesity in children and adolescents
Specific To develop a specific training program by utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach. It will set out a vision and will focus on the future priorities along with the outcomes to construct the strategic development of programs of training in schools.
Measureable It can be measured by working with a diversity of public, intentional and profitable providers of the opportunities concerned with healthcare associations and will fabricate a structure to facilitate the children to participate in healthy eating and physical activities.
Achievable It is achievable since proper eating habits and physical activities of may possibly bring about most important benefits of health in the children.
Relevant It is relevant since the activities and programs of training make an important contribution to enhance the accessibility of the activities of health for all the children and adolescents.
Time-Bound Though, it will take some time and requires working in association with the other agencies and offering extra opportunities for participation of the children and the teachers in training programs to prevent obesity effectively.
Make training mandatory in the primary and secondary schools by January 2017 to reduce the rate of childhood obesity by 15% by the year 2018
Build health public policy To develop the health of the children and adolescents by introducing obligatory programs of training in the primary and secondary schools.
Create supportive environments It will construct environments that are supportive through the association of diverse sectors and develop long-term partnerships.
Strengthen community action To provide support to the local healthcare and lifesaving groups.
Develop personal skills Reinforce and allow the community all the way through the capability to help and support each other during the times of necessity.
Reorient services of health It will facilitate them to obtain knowledge regarding childhood obesity in an efficient manner
Objective One: Train 30% of teachers to deliver training to students by the end of 2016
Build healthy public policy Initiate with a trail area in which the primary as well as the secondary schools are present to verify if the program of training is efficient.
Create supportive environments It will create environments that are supportive through the association of diverse sectors and develop long-term partnerships.
They need to identify the needs by utilizing the joint strategic needs assessment.
Develop personal skills The team should comprise of professionals who are specialized in the weight management of children and adolescents
Reorient services of health They need to commission the services of lifestyle weight management to meet the requirements of the local children and adolescents, including different cultural backgrounds and different ages and different stages of development
Objective Two: Incorporate program of training for the students who are more prone to obesity and do not follow proper eating habits and regular exercises
Build healthy public policy The Services should be lined with the strategy of health and wellbeing
Create supportive environments Creation of environment where children and adolescents feel safer and identify that they could support each other if required.
Strengthen community action They need to identify the needs by utilizing the joint strategic needs assessment
Reorient health services Utilize the techniques of community engagement with local families to recognize the barriers and catalysts encouraging or discouraging the uptake and accomplishment of programs.
Objective Three: Train 50% students aged between 10 and 15 in the secondary schools
Build healthy public policy To develop the health of the children and adolescents by introducing obligatory programs of training in the primary and secondary schoolsCreate supportive environments It will construct environments that are supportive through the association of diverse sectors and develop long-term partnerships
Strengthen community action To provide support to the local healthcare and lifesaving groups.
Develop personal skills Reinforce and allow the community all the way through the capability to help and support each other during the times of necessity.
Reorient services of health It will facilitate them to obtain knowledge regarding childhood obesity in an efficient manner.
Objective Four: Incorporate healthy life style for the children and adolescents with obesity
Build healthy public policy Ensure that the programs of lifestyle weight management are intended and developed with effort from a multidisciplinary team and should take into consideration the views of the children, adolescents and their families
Create supportive environments
To ensure that the content of the program is reviewed on a regular basis and is restructured by the multidisciplinary team resulting in a supportive environment.
Strengthen Community Action
Create a more optimistic relationship with children as well as adolescents.
Develop personal Skills By training students and developing their skills before they leave school and have the tools they may require assisting in the future.
Reorient services of health They also make sure that adequate resources are committed to monitor and evaluate the program of training intended for the children and adolescent in an efficient manner
The ministry of education will be met to converse regarding the implementation of policy within the system of school and the health department, as both of them are responsible to communicate by way of the schools utilizing the weekly report which will be sent out by the department of education (Nishtar et al. 2016).. The weekly report will enclose a facsimile of the policy which is to be implemented so that the schools become aware of what is being authorized and when it could come into effect (Mason et al. 2014).
The program of training will talk about the procedures of the training of the students as well as the school staff. It will facilitate the staff of the school to convey the program to the students to reduce the expenditure of the government as it eradicates paying for skilled training on an annual basis (Phulkerd et al. 2016).
Action for Healthy Kids will collaborate with the other healthcare organizations in order to make the program of training specific to the children as well as the adolescents. By acquiring the knowledge of childhood obesity, the children and adolescents will be encouraged to indulge in healthy consumption of diets along with sports or physical activities on a regular basis. Collaborating with a present initiative would increase the probability of success (Rudolf 2015).
Lastly, assessment will be an indispensable aspect of the program. The students of the school will be inspected to increase the interest levels of the students before the implementation of the training program and its execution after one year. It will measure the efficiency of the program of training to observe if the students are using their knowledge and skills with respect to childhood obesity (Marmot and Bell 2012).
Promoting Health with the Ottawa Charter
By means of the Ottawa Charter, the policy is allowed to integrate a framework of health promotion. The aims and objectives have been included in a manner that believes concerning all the areas of the Ottawa Charter all the way through the addition of the tables.
The framework of health promotion that strengthens this policy is concerned with the Ottawa Charter. It consists of five means of key actions; build supportive environments, reinforce actions of the community, construct healthy policies for the public, develop personal skills and reorient services for health (World Health Organization, 2015). Each of its objectives has been planned utilizing all its principles and draws on the significant components of every area. Its policy aims to develop the health of the children and adolescents by introducing obligatory programs of training in the primary and secondary schools. By offering the students these skills, it will instantaneously develop their individual skills, allow them to assist others and offer them additional control over their conditions of health. It also aims to provide the students with these skills to the members of the community. It will also reinforce and allow the community all the way through the capability to help and support each other during the times of necessity. It will also construct environments that are supportive through the association of diverse sectors and develop long-term partnerships. Finally, by instructing the students of the primary and the secondary schools, it will facilitate them to obtain knowledge regarding childhood obesity in an efficient manner (Mason et al. 2014).
3. Recommendations for Government
Initiate with a trail area in which the primary as well as the secondary schools are present to verify if the program of training is efficient. If considered successful, the training policy could be expanded to the other schools in different areas. Success will be assessed by the methods of evaluation. Generate a more optimistic association with children and adolescents and encourage the children to have a healthy diet and physical activities on a daily basis (Castro et al. 2013). They need to identify the needs by utilizing the joint strategic needs assessment. Utilize the techniques of community engagement with local families to recognize the barriers and catalysts encouraging or discouraging the uptake and accomplishment of programs. They need to commission the services of lifestyle weight management to meet the requirements of the local children and adolescents, including different cultural backgrounds and different ages and different stages of development. The Services should be lined with the strategy of health and wellbeing (Colley et al. 2012).
Funds should be provided to collaborate with the other healthcare organizations to deliver knowledge regarding childhood obesity in the primary as well as the secondary schools. It will employ students and will merge the program of training with a program which already exists (Fry and Zask 2016). The government needs to ensure that the programs of lifestyle weight management are intended and developed with effort from a multidisciplinary team and should take into consideration the views of the children, adolescents and their families. The team should comprise of professionals who are specialized in the weight management of children and adolescents. They also need to ensure that there is a suitable interface with specialist obesity services to assist those children and adolescents who are in more need to manage their weight and live a healthy life.
Action for Healthy Kids works on a regular basis with children and adolescents aged 5-15 years to reduce harm and make them powerful. This thereby helps in generating the opportunity to reinforce and build the skills as well as awareness of the students in every possible way (Raine et al. 2013).
There is also a need to provide funds to the other organizations to establish the programs of training in the primary and the secondary schools. It can be applied to the training of the teachers and the students. To train the students and equip them with skills those are usually delivered by health professionals (Swinburn et al. 2015). They need to make sure that the healthcare providers can demonstrate that the team is trained and is able to deliver the specific training program to the children and adolescents. They also need to ensure that the content of the program is reviewed on a regular basis and is restructured by the multidisciplinary team. They also make sure that adequate resources are committed to monitor and evaluate the program of training intended for the children and adolescent in an efficient manner (Colley et al. 2012).
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Raine, K.D., Lobstein, T., Landon, J., Kent, M.P., Pellerin, S., Caulfield, T., Finegood, D., Mongeau, L., Neary, N. and Spence, J.C., 2013. Restricting marketing to children: Consensus on policy interventions to address obesity.Journal of Public Health Policy, 34(2), pp.239-253.
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