CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH

HSC 435: Health Promotion Risk Reduction

May 9, 2018

Childhood Obesity Prevention Program

Signature Assignment

Valerie Efrosinis

Introduction
 A serious health problem in the United States is Childhood Obesity. There have been

many programs associated with countering childhood obesity, due to the severe health

consequences associated with childhood obesity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention

defines childhood overweight and obesity as “Overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the

85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex.

Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same

age and sex” (CDC, 2010). The target population for most childhood obesity prevention

programs amongst school age youth is aimed at children between the ages of five and twelve

years old. The behavior outcome desired by childhood obesity prevention programs is an

increase in healthy eating and physical activity. Increasing healthy eating and physical activity

will help to prevention children from becoming overweight or obese and also helps to reduce the

negative health effects in children who are already overweight or obese.

Literature Review

One childhood obesity prevention program implemented called Mind, Exercise,

Nutrition, Do it (MEND), targets children ages eight to twelve years old. The program consists

of two hour group sessions held twice a week for nine weeks. The program activities included

behavior change, nutrition education, and physical activity were addressed. One example

provided on nutrition education provided was on the education section, “Sessions on nutrition

education consisted of healthy eating advice customized for obese children and included healthy

eating tips in the form of achievable weekly targets, instructions on the reading and

understanding of food and drink labels and other simple advice designed to produce gradual

changes in dietary habits” (Sacher et al. 2010). Participants also received a swim pass following
the program. The program resulted in better cardiovascular health and psychological well being.

Waist circumference among the children who completed the program also decreased.

Another program implemented to decrease childhood obesity, is known as Pathways.

Pathways is a program targeting American Indian school children in third through fifth grade.

The program consisted of two, forty five minute lessons per week for twelve weeks for third and

fourth graders, and eight weeks for fifth graders. The activities included in the program include a

change in dietary intake, increase in physical activity, healthy eating and lifestyle, and a family

involvement program. The The physical education (PE) program was described to “aimed at

increasing energy expenditure in the school environment by implementing a minimum of three

30-minute sessions per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity” (Caballero et al. 2003).

Another example provided of how parents were involved in the program was, “family action

packs, which were take-home materials related to the Pathways intervention, including snack

packs with samples of low-fat foods and tips for preparing healthful snacks at home; and 2)

family events at schools, which included cooking demonstrations and activities for healthier

lifestyle, with the direct involvement of children” (Caballero et al. 2003). The program resulted

in positive changes in fat intake and food as well as health based knowledge and behaviors.

Another program created to counter childhood obesity is called Live, Eat, and Play

(LEAP). The target population is overweight or mildly obese children. The program includes

four consultations over twelve weeks. The program activities include talking about nutrition,

physical activity, and change is sedentary lifestyle. The program resulted in the children’s

families reporting a change in their nutrition intake however the program did not result in any

change in BMI amongst the children who participated in the intervention.

 A program known as Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (PAAC) was also

implemented to counter childhood obesity. This program targets elementary school students in

second and third grade. The PAAC program promoted mostly physical activity, “Physical

Activity Across the Curriculum promoted 90 min/wk of moderate to vigorous intensity

physically active academic lessons delivered by classroom teachers” (Donnelly et al. 2009). The

program activity included physical activity in the classroom during lessons, and teachers most

commonly implemented this during language arts time. The conclusion of this program was a

result in a healthier BMI as well as an increase in academic achievement.

Christchurch Obesity Prevention Program in Schools (CHOPPS) is a program developed

also to decrease the increase in sugary and carbonated in children. The researchers noted the

difference in this intervention than in similar interventions, “ It focused specifically on

discouraging the consumption of carbonated drinks. Several recent studies have further

confirmed the association between these drinks and obesity” (Cavan, James, Thomas, & Kerr,

2004). The target population is children ages seven to eleven years old living in the United

Kingdom. The program consists of four one hour sessions during school, educating children on

the negative effects of drinking soda and healthy alternatives. During the program the children

tasted fruits, performed an experiment where a tooth was emerged in carbonated drink to show

decay, children also produced a song or rap promoting healthy eating, the last session included a

game based on a T.V. show that tested their knowledge. The result of the program was that the

program was considered a success, the children in the study showed an increase in water

consumption.

Proposed Intervention
 To propose an intervention based on these research findings, I would first design a

program that would be implemented in elementary schools because it would give the program

the ability to reach more children. My proposed intervention program would target children ages

five to eleven years old. The dosage would be one hour educational workshop per week during

the school day, for the duration of one school year.

The program activities would include games promoting knowledge of healthy behaviors,

for example, fun activities that involve exercise or fun recipes that involve fruits and vegetables.

Also this would include making a plan for how to implement healthy behaviors into everyday

life, for example the child joining his or her parents during grocery shopping and cooking, and

taking an interest in what types of foods are purchases and prepared. The program would also

exposing the children to new activities that require them to exercise, for example practicing yoga

or a sport they have not tried before. This will give the students an opportunity to find something

that they enjoy that is also healthy for their bodies.

The evaluation design for this program would be a quasi-experimental design. We will

use a control group who is a wait list control group of a school or classroom who will receive the

intervention at a later time. Also a before and after survey will be given to the students and to

their parents to test their behavior changes. The surveys will measure whether the student has

tried new fruits and vegetables each week, and also whether or not the child has participated in

preparing his or her food at home, and whether or not the child’s physical activity level has

increased. The surveys may reach the parents by being sent home with the student. Another way

the program may be evaluated in through a focus group where the students and their families

may express what they liked and disliked about the program and their suggestions for

improvement.
 Someone barriers for this program may be the schools participation. It may be difficult to

gain access to a school who would be willing to commit to the program for the during of the time

needed. Also gaining access to a control group may be difficult because it would make it

necessary for one group to not receive the program right away. Another barrier that may come up

is parents not attending sessions or not filling out surveys that are sent home. It is also possible

that the children or parents may not be truthful in their surveys.

Conclusion

In conclusion, childhood overweight and obesity is a serious health problem in the

United States. Implementing programs that help to prevent children from becoming obese, and

programs that also help to decrease health problems in children who are already obese would be

beneficial to many individuals and families. A program which would be most successful would

be one that consists of a physical activity section and a nutrition and healthy eating portion. The

program would also need family support to help the child change his or her behavior. It would be

the best to evaluate a program using a comparison of a control group and an experimental group,

and also a before and after survey determining behavior, as well as a focus group where students

give their input, in order to determine whether or not the program is effective in helping the

students whom are participating.

References

Caballero, B., Clay, T., Davis, S. M., Ethelbah, B., Rock, B. H., Lohman, T., ... &
Stevens, J. (2003). Pathways: a school-based, randomized controlled trial for the prevention of
obesity in American Indian schoolchildren. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 78(5),
1030-1038.

Donnelly, J. E., Greene, J. L., Gibson, C. A., Smith, B. K., Washburn, R. A., Sullivan, D.
K., ... & Jacobsen, D. J. (2009). Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (PAAC): a randomized
controlled trial to promote physical activity and diminish overweight and obesity in elementary
school children. Preventive medicine, 49(4), 336-341.

James, J., Thomas, P., Cavan, D., & Kerr, D. (2004). Preventing childhood obesity by
reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial. Bmj, 328(7450),
1237.

McCallum, Z., Wake, M., Gerner, B., Baur, L. A., Gibbons, K., Gold, L., ... & Sanci, L.
(2007). Outcome data from the LEAP (Live, Eat and Play) trial: a randomized controlled trial of
a primary care intervention for childhood overweight/mild obesity. International journal of
obesity, 31(4), 630.

Overweight & Obesity. (2016, October 20). Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html

Sacher, P. M., Kolotourou, M., Chadwick, P. M., Cole, T. J., Lawson, M. S., Lucas, A.
and Singhal, A. (2010), Randomized Controlled Trial of the MEND Program: A Family-based
Community Intervention for Childhood Obesity. Obesity[FG2] , 18: S62–S68.
doi:10.1038/oby.2009.433