Valery Delgado

Prof. Elisabeth von Uhl

ENGL 21002 M

Research Proposal

December 11, 2018

Childhood Obesity: A Hidden Issue Within Public Schools

THE PROBLEM:

Obesity has become a nationwide health epidemic that continues to expand from children to adults. Indeed, being overweight poses a higher risk for many other health problems to arise including but not limited to diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. Moreover, studies such as the one proposed by Roger et al. illustrates the increase frequency of childhood obesity observed in low-income neighborhoods due to the of lack resources in regards  health risk associated with obesity. With this in mind, this growing issue is a prevalent concern that continues to not be fully address in many public schools in the Bronx county. Being a former student in the Mohegan Public School 67 and having the opportunity to observe the continuous disregard of health science information to young students is problematic.

Furthermore, some of these students continue to be exposed to easily accessible sugary and unhealthy food within and outside the perimeters of the school. Additionally, these children are not encourage to participate in different physical activity in school. On the other hand, many of these students already suffer from excess amount of weight causing them to lack motivation to perform any form of physical activities. In addition, it was observe that many of these students avoid interacting or playing with other children in the playground, but prefer consuming unhealthy snacks. Therefore, all public schools should provide new alternatives to teach children and parents the importance of a healthy meals, negative effects of unhealthy snacks and the risk associated with obesity.

BACKGROUND:

Certainly, childhood obesity continues in being a growing problem in the United States among children and adolescents leading to greater health risk among the youth. According to the CDC (2018), “obesity is prevalent among children and adolescents between the ages of 2 to 19 years old.” In addition, the CDC(2018) reported that “obesity prevalence was 13.9% for 2 to 5 year olds, 18.4% for 6 to 11 years old and 20.6% for 12 to 19 years old.” The data illustrates a positive correlation between the older ages and higher obesity which indicates that as these children become older they also become less aware of the possible issues associated with obesity. Additionally, Cynthia et al(2010) proposed a study that emphasizes the long term effects of childhood obesity lingering into adulthood. As a result, obesity can lead to higher probability of developing cardiovascular complications including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Interesting, the study also reveal that obesity was prevalent among low-income population compared to population in higher socioeconomic status. Therefore, one can expect that the lack of resources like money and access to nutritional food to be contributing factors towards higher obesity levels in children.

Moreover, another study reveals that “there seems to be a relationship between certain ethnic groups and their low socioeconomic status” (Rogers et al, 2015). The study states that childhood obesity is a common disease in low-income communities among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black populations. Additionally, the CDC data demonstrates that there is a higher prevalence of childhood obesity among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black  population with a prevalence rate of up 25.8% and 22% respectively, while the childhood obesity rate of non-Hispanic white is much lower at 14.1% (2018). Such discrepancies in obesity rates possibly suggest that children and parents in minority communities lack health related information. Another consideration can be attributed to low income neighborhoods which are predominantly African American and Hispanic so the obesity rate could be expected to be much higher in these communities. Rogers et al study also states that “African American and Hispanics children within the low socioeconomic status are most likely to be in the overweight or obese category“(2015).

LITERATURE REVIEW:

These studies demonstrates that childhood obesity is not just present in low-income populations but emphasises additional factors that increases the likelihood of these children developing obesity as a long term health problem. Public schools in the city usually allow students to purchase inexpensive unhealthy meals from vending machines or fast food stands that are easily accessible throughout the neighborhood. As a result, these students have a higher consumption rate of sugary snacks which limits their physical motivation to participate in any physical activity. For instance, “33% of children and 41% of adolescents on average had consumed meals from a fast food restaurant”(Poti et al, 2014). The reason why majority of  children pick unhealthy meals is primarily due to the inexpensive prices of unhealthy snacks like chips, cookies and candy as “most likely, the availability of unhealthy sustenances are predominant in low income neighborhoods” (Rogers et al, 2015). Moreover, the price convenience outweighs the nutritious options not only in the eyes of the children but also the parents as “fast food intake is correlated with dietary preferences, access to fast food places and income constraints, influence how individuals eat throughout the day (Poti et al, 2014). However, parents are not noticing the poorer eating habits being taught to their children.

Interestingly, the average amount of calories intake continues to increase among children and adolescents. The environmental factors of nearby fast food places and limited budget is a influencing factor for fast food consumption. In addition, “fast food are higher in solid fat then in food consumed from retail stores or schools and few items on children menu align with national nutrition standards or dietary guidelines” (Poti et al, 2014). Children are not meeting the daily requirement of nutrition because fast foods have a higher concentration of fat which contributes to weight gain. Therefore, public schools can be used as the intermediate for children and parents to acknowledge the risk associated with obesity and unhealthy eating.  

Additionally, “obesity severely affects children in low income households with 18.9% of children and adolescents between 2 to 19 years old being classified as obese” (CDC,2018). Consequently, “obesity prevalence increased by 23 to 33% for children in low income families” (Rogers et al, 2015). In addition, “23.7% of African Americans between the ages of 12 to 19 were considered obese, while whites within the same age group had 16.1% of obesity prevalence”(Rogers et al, 2015). African Americans live in low income area compared to Caucasians that are part of the high socioeconomic status. Indeed, these children that grow up in low-income population have a higher possibility of developing obesity due to the limitations not only within their communities but also the public schools they attend..

 

OBJECTIVES:

The long term goal of this research is to develop an educational program within public schools that would teach children and parents of the benefits of healthy eating, promoting physical activity and risks associated with the constant consumption of unhealthy eating habits. The information gathered from multiple studies can be used to develop an outline with the contributing factors that can potentially caused health related problems such as obesity among children and adolescents.

For the study under Cynthia L.Ogden et al (2010) examined the relationship of obesity and socioeconomic status among children and adolescents. Indeed, the study illustrated the correlation between childhood obesity and income status of the household head. One of the results found that children and adolescents living with the head of a household with a college degree are less obese than those without an education. As stated before, low income children and adolescents had a higher obesity rate compared to those of a higher economic status. Therefore, both of these findings demonstrated that the prevalence of obesity decrease as income increases which can suggest that limitation of knowledge is possible cause of unhealthy eating habits.

In addition, Rogers et al (2015) study further examined the relationship of obesity between ethnic groups and socioeconomic status. The results indicated a higher rate of obesity present in children of  African Americans and Hispanics in low income status compared to their Caucasian counterpart. Alternatively, families of low income status were less likely to notice their children being overweight. Therefore, lower household income is associated with higher prevalence of obesity among children.

Furthermore, the Jennifer M. Poti et al (2014) study demonstrated the association of fast food intake with poor diet is abundant pattern among obese children. The results concluded that half of  U.S children consumed fast food on a daily basis. From previous observation during a field site view of the Mohegan Public school, such findings are relevant with the eating habits present among the students. As a result, fast food consumption was correlated with obesity or overweight among children.

The Center for Disease Control (2018) provided a national representative sample about the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States. The results provided the percentage of obesity for each of the three age groups such as 2 to 5 year olds, 6 to 11 years old and 12 to 19 years old. In addition, children within minority communities like Hispanic and African Americans had a higher obesity prevalence compared to their Asian and White counterpart. Furthermore, obesity prevalence was higher in low income group and families that lacked a education. Overall, ethnicity and socioeconomic status are the contributing factors of childhood obesity.

METHODS:

In order to develop a guideline of prevalent information for public schools to use as in outline for parents and students, a study will be developed to test whether the information provided can expand awareness of health risk associated with unhealthy lifestyle activities. The focus group will include a sample size consisted of children between the ages of elementary and middle school and if possible the parents could participate. Participants will be randomly selected from the Mohegan Public School 67. Next, A educational program will be provided to inform the participants about healthy eating, the benefits of physical activities and risk of unhealthy eating.

Afterward, each participant will completed a 20 question survey. The questionnaire will contain a series of questions focusing on various topics expanding from preference in physical activities, eating habits, knowledge of health risk issues. The answers will be recorded as an scale that will range from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Furthermore, through data analysis the most important prevalent information will be gathered depending on the common answers among the subjects. At this point, an educational outline could be provided to the school for further testing with a larger sample size. The final outline will need to be tested on multiple trials to condense the information into a format that is understandable for both children and parents.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, many students within public schools  are constantly exposed to unhealthy eating habits that also prevents from participation in physical activities. These children and adolescents can or will be consider overweight and obese which would most likely continue to negatively affect them during adulthood. Indeed, obesity can lead to further health complications. There are certain factors that contribute to childhood obesity such as ethnicity, income and education. However, there is a possible solutions to reducing obesity among the youth. As a recommendation, a continuous program can be develop to educate these young minds about healthy eating and positive thinking as this should be a standard application within public schools in order to prevent and hopefully lower the cases pertaining health related issues from childhood obesity.

 

Works Cited

“Childhood Obesity” CDC,  August 13, 2018 https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

 

Cynthia L.Ogden, Ph.D.; Molly M.Lamb, Ph.D.; Margaret D. Carroll, M.S.P.H.; and Katherine

2008. Flegal, Ph.D ( December 2010) Obesity and Socioeconomic Status in Children and Adolescents: United States. 2005-2008. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. No.51

 

Jennifer M. Poti, Kiyah J Duffey, and Barry M. Popkin (2014). The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: is is the fast food or the remainder of the diet. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition  99(1):162-71.

 

Robert Rogers, BA, Taylor F. Eagle, BS, Anne Sheetz, MPH, Alan Woodland, MD, Robert Leibowitz, PhD, Minkyoung Song, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, Rachel Sylvester, BS, Nicole Corriveau, BS, Eva Kline- Rogers, MS, RN, Qingmei Jiang, MA, MS, Elizabeth A. Jackson, MD, MPH, and Kim Eagle, MD ( Dec 1. 2015)  The Relationship between Childhood Obesity, Low Socioeconomic Status, and Race/Ethnicity: Lessons from Massachusetts. 11(6): 691–695.