Internship Presentation

by Mauricio Mejia

What is Project OCNO?

The project we have been working on here at the Institute for Behavioral and
Community Health (IBACH) is called Project Our Choice/Nuestra Opcin.
The purpose of our project is to raise prevent and control childhood obesity,
specifically for Mexican-American communities. We go out mainly to
Imperial County, east of San Diego, and talk about main reasons for
childhood obesity, and what we can do to help reduce the chance of obesity
and other health complications in the future.

What causes obesity?

1. Genes- Many people are in fact prone to having obesity because of the genes that
have been past down to them from parents and/or grandparents.
2. Physical Activity- Being physically inactive increases your risk of obesity.
Inactivity has gone up in recent years, going from 10% of inactive women to 52%,
and from 11% to 43% of inactive men.
3. Sleep Quality- Sleep schedules can play a big role in obesity risks. The reason for
this is perhaps because the person is too sleep-deprived to exercise, or is awake
long enough that they have more opportunities to eat.
4. Diet- Much more people are drinking sugar-sweetened beverages like soda,
instead of just drinking water. Food is also served in disproportionately large
quantities, which increases the calorie intake.

Serving Sizes
A large part of the rise of obesity has been serving sizes and the
coincided increase of the portion. For example, a bagel is twice
the size today than it was 20 years ago, and a soda is nearly six
times the sizes today. Bigger portions = more calories.

Why Imperial County?

In the United States, 28% of Mexican-American children ages 2-5 are overweight,
compared to 21% nationwide. 14% of Mexican-American children are obese, compared
to 10% nationwide. Since 75% of Imperial Countys population is from Mexican origin,
it is one of the most obese counties in California. 39% of the children there are
overweight, compared to 28% statewide. This is why our mission is mostly based in
Imperial, so we can change the way people see obesity, and also to prevent it in
children as well as in adults.

What can we do to stop obesity?

1. Be more active- If you can just spend 30 minutes to run around the neighborhood,
or go to the park to walk around, it can do wonderful things for your body.
2. Diet- Try to eat more healthy options. For example, you can replace red meat with
chicken or fish. You can also eat more fruits and vegetable, which contain tons of
vitamins. Instead of drinking soda, get a bottled water.
3. Parenting- For many children, the parents choose for them. Sometimes parents
dont choose their childrens food wisely. They must choose the healthy options to
help prevent childhood obesity. They can also take their children to the park or
local recreation center to exercise.

Internship Q&A
Q: How did you make a meaningful contribution to your workplace?
A: I have made contributions for this internship by being proactive and productive with the tasks and work assigned to me here. I actively seek out tasks, and work on
them effectively. Even when I do not have something to work on, I ask my mentor Jamie, or I would also ask Griselda and Dulce. For example, one task I had to do
was to transcribe an interview conducted by one of my coworkers. Transcription is when you type down what the person is saying in the piece of audio. It doesn't
have to be word for word, but you have to be able to understand it. I finished the first transcription, then asked Dulce if I could do the second one.
Q: How was your work as an intern meaningful to your education?
A:This internship has helped me be more proactive, a skill that I hope to carry into the new school year. I've also become a hard worker here, something I needed to
work on in the past. At school I have had the tendency to slack off of my work, relying only on my skills, thinking I can do things last minute and not working hard on a
project, but I feel that this internship has shown me the rewards of working hard. Sure, it can be stressing for a moment, but I learned that I would rather be stressed
in the beginning than being stressed at the end.
Q: How was your work significant or meaningful to you beyond school and your specific internship site?
A: This internship has been essential to my future education because it gives me the opportunity to be in a real life workplace, an experience most high school
students don't get to have. It also will look good on my resume, because it is a certified research institution. Since I want to work in the researching field, this will give
me added experience for my future job.

Q&A Part II
Q: What did you learn about yourself through working on the internship project?
A:I have learned that if I work hard with my tasks, I can get things done in bunches and efficiently, something I have always had a problem with. I know, and a lot of
people have told me, that I am smart, but at times I can slack off, which is disheartening to the people that want to see me succeed. I know that I can do great things
if I put my mind to it, and this internship has helped me in showing that.
Q: What new appreciations did you develop at your internship? Why?
A: During my time here at IBACH, I have learned to appreciate a quite, concentrated environment. Here, our offices are very focused on data, so we usually don't
have time to chat or anything like that. It is the exact opposite with High Tech High, where we spend a lot of our time doing team-building activities and what not. But I
have grown accustom to the working environment at IBACH, and I have even been thriving in not getting distracted and working on my tasks.
Q: What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself? Why?
A: I think the people here are very hard-working, an area I would like to work on. For example, Ilyn, one of my coworkers, is already applying for another internship,
showing her working ethics, as well as showing that she wants to succeed in her future. I feel like I have learned one of the most important things here. At school I
usually slack off because I feel confident in whatever project I'm doing, so I don't feel the need to be urgent about things. But since working at my Internship is a
completely new experience, I feel like I have to work harder in order to succeed my goals.

Q&A Part III

Q: How did your view of life beyond high school change or develop during your time at the internship?
A: I have always seen myself in the research field for the future, and working at IBACH just reassured that notion. I have always wanted to be an astronomer, but I
have also been interested in the field of health. Now I have a great second option if my career as an astronomer doesn't pan out, which is reassuring.
Q: How might internship influence the direction of your life?
A: IBACH has influenced me by having me being prepared for my future. A lot of schools don't have experiences like this, where they get to go out on the field and
study data, which is why a lot of people don't know where their future will be headed to, but this experience has just been reassuring for me.
Q: How did communication and/or collaboration at work influence your understanding of professional working environments?
A: The communication here at IBACH is very easy, since it is a fairly small area. It is an open-office area, so you can check in with your coworkers to ask them
something or help them. We also use a lot of emails, whether we are at work or not.

Research References
1. Lack of exercise, not diet, linked to rise in obesity, Stanford research shows. (2014, July 7). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from https:
//med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/07/lack-of-exercise--not-diet--linked-to-rise-in-obesity--stanford-.html
2. Sleep Deprivation and Obesity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sleep/
3. We Can! Community News Feature. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.
gov/health/educational/wecan/news-events/matte1.htm
4. Childhood Obesity and the U.S.-Mxico Border. 2009. United States ? Mxico Border Health Commission
5. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM,
Flegal KM. Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA. 2010 ;303(3):242-9

The End
Thank you for your time!