evaluation and methodology needed for grant

Obesity Grant Proposal

Obesity is a major health concern that is affecting advanced nations like America. The current lifestyle defined by heavy intake of junk consumables with high caloric levels has contributed to a rise in obesity (Powell, 2019). Children are the worst affected. This proposal endeavors to address this health hazard among children in US. Our operations will be domiciled under the Jump2It program. This program seeks to raise obesity awareness and actively aid overweight children through exercises. This grant segment includes the idea, statement of needs and sponsor identification.

Jump2It provides heath education and physical activity to children ages 2 through 5 at local child care centers, preschools and community centers. This program also provides health and nutrition education to the caregivers and family members of the participants.

The pilot program will be implemented in Sumter County, South Carolina. This county was chosen as the State of Obesity shows the county’s childhood obesity rates for WIC participants ages 2-4 as 13%. https://www.stateofobesity.org/states/sc/

Proposal Idea

The proposed idea for addressing child obesity under Jump2It is divided in two phases. First, sensitizing children on the significance of embracing healthy diets derived from plants is a priority. Processed foods that are riddled with sugar, fats and preservatives have been blamed for obesity (Kramer & Narayan, 2015). The unregulated deposition of fats in the body causes overweight and blocking of blood vessels. Health issues like hypertension result in the process. This challenge plagues children in states like Virginia and Oklahoma. Our program will eventually expand across the United States and we will devote substantial resources into the worst affected areas. Secondly, the idea of exercising would be incorporated in our program. The physical activity instruction will be based upon lessons plans from SPARK PE. SPARK Early Childhood curriculum is an evidenced-based program that promotes an engaging environment. This program has proven to increase student’s activity levels from moderate to vigorous over 50% of class time, which also increased the amount of time students participated in physical activity throughout the day. Physical activity and fitness is our number one concern as the lack thereof denies children a chance of metabolically breaking down calories accumulated from food. Fitness is instrumental in the reduction of obesity. The children enrolled in our program would be routinely involved in adventurous exercises. Exercises should be demystified among children. They should be viewed as adventure instead of work. Such an approach encourages participation.

Needs Statement

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the U.S., and today, the country has some of the highest obesity rates in the world: one out of six children is obese, and one out of three children is overweight or obese (Ogden).

Obesity reduction programs are urgently needed in both educational and community settings. Repeatedly, childhood obesity has been called “one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, (World Health Organization).”  Obesity is spreading at an alarming rate among children. This essentially implies that the United States has very many obese children than at any point in its history. Overweight and obese children are at increased risk of developing obesity-related conditions, such as like hypertension compared to those with normal BMI (body mass index) (Powell, 2019). These children grow into overweight adults, who continue to suffer from these diseases and disabilities later in life. Jump2It is thereby needed to educate children on healthy eating and exercising to reverse the negative trajectory. The children are not to blame for these issues as it has been shown that tough economic times have overwhelmed parents, as they are preoccupied with income generating activities and little attention is paid to the wellbeing of their children.

Not only does childhood obesity lead to a decline in health, these children also are affected emotionally and mentally. This program is needed to enable children actualize their potentials by boosting their self-esteems. Obese children are prone to ridicule and mockery from their peers. These behaviors can demotivate a child from pursuing academic or athletic endeavors. Jump2It would act as a supporting pillar to such children. They should be made to understand that their condition is reversible.

To accompany the physical activity segment of this, nutrition education is needed to act as a counterweight to the disinformation that exists on food consumption (Kramer & Narayan, 2015). Currently, there are no nutrition education programs targeted towards young children or their families in community settings. The fight against obesity cannot be won without a well-informed population that can distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. Food manufacturers have a considerable sway among policy makers, which make it difficult to hold them accountable when they produce deceptive promotions in their marketing endeavors. There are state programs such as SNAP, but to participate you must qualify for their programs.

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and healthcare costs in the United States. Currently, estimates for these costs range from $147 billion to nearly $210 billion per year (Cawley). This program aims to encourage healthy living among children and the general population through avoidance of foods that expose them to unnecessary risks. The impact of a healthy population in contributing positively to the economic development is immeasurable. A sickly population is detrimental to the economy. Additional funds are diverted from the economy to cater for their wellbeing.

Sponsor Identification

The program outlined above would not be successful without the support of sponsors. Sponsors are crucial in providing the required financial resources to support our obesity mitigation programs. We are open for sponsorship. However, our large sponsors must meet the following qualifications. First, they must be non-partisan. We intend to maintain our neutrality. Partisan funding can hamper our operations in areas where the ideology is hostile. Secondly, the sponsors must be involved in legally viable activities. This measure ensures that criminal proceeds do not find their way into our operations. Vetting would be a priority to avert scrutiny from government agencies. We encourage sponsorships from corporate or government agencies. We endeavor to expand our reach to all states with high obesity rates. In the short run, we would depend on the support of small donors to power our operations. These funds would be put into optimal use to yield the desired impact among the recipients. This is the criteria that we would exploit to attract large sponsors.

In conclusion, obesity is a threat to public health. Addressing this problem requires collective effort from policy makers, individuals and NGOs. We hope that our program will bring a renewed enthusiasm in the fight against obesity among children. The measures proposed to combat it are not new. The problem is on the implementation frontier.

Goals and Objectives

The purpose and long-range goal of Jump2It is to reduce the negative impact of obesity on quality of life, medical costs and risk of disease beginning in early childhood. To achieve this, we have identified two primary goals:

1. Prevent and reduce the level of obesity in preschool-aged children through improved nutrition, physical activity and supportive environments.

a. Provide educational opportunities and program strategies for targeted (preschool aged children and their families) groups that encourage healthy eating and healthy weight.

i. Implement programming for caregivers and families concerning healthy weight, and nutrition for preschool -aged children.

b. Provide regular educational opportunities to be displayed in local child care centers and community centers

i. Provide targeted information and messages specific to preschool aged children and their families about healthy eating, healthy weight and physical activity

c. Provide opportunities for healthy eating behaviors for preschool aged children.

i. Educate child care and community center staff on proper nutrition guidelines

d. Increase availability of fresh fruit and vegetables at child care and community centers

i. Partner with local grocers, farmers markets, and Department of Agriculture to provide produce at low to now cost for participants

e. Provide educational opportunities and program strategies for targeted (preschool aged children and their families) groups that encourage physical activity and healthy weight.

i. Implement programming for caregivers and families concerning physical activity and nutrition for preschool -aged children.

f. Implement physical activity program such as SPARK PE with recommendations for minimum physical activity per day

i. Ensure program highlights knowledge and skills that promote a lifetime of physical activity

ii. Ensure program keeps student active for most of the day

g. Create more opportunities for physical activity throughout the day in child care and community centers

i. Include physical activity in educational lesson plans

ii. Ensure children have adequate recess/free time

Methodology

Shay McElveen, Program Director is a Certified Health Education Specialist and Youth Nutrition Specialist. She has a BS in Public Health from Clemson University and is currently working on a MA in Adult and Community Education from Ball State University. She has over 10 years of experience working with children and adults in health promotion and wellness.

There will be a total of 10 classes taught at local child care and community centers with no more than 10 children in each class. The children will have classes twice per week led by the program director for 30 minutes each. When the children are not having formal instruction from the program director, physical activity and nutrition education will be incorporated in their regular lesson plans from their newly trained teachers.

The program will capture the amount of physical activity each class participates in at the beginning of the program as well at the conclusion. The program will also capture the children’s attitude towards fruit and vegetables, which are essential for the growth and development of the children. Fruits and vegetables are very important in providing the body with the essential vitamins (Pont, 2017). The number of fruit and vegetables consumed daily will be tracked throughout the program. Students will have various opportunities to explore various types of foods within the program that will be carried out for six weeks.

The caregivers and families will receive a pre-test and post-test on their knowledge of physical activity and nutrition.

Timeline

Goals and objective activities

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Create website for Jump2It

X

Create promotional materials for Jump2It

X

Contact local child care and community centers

X

Evaluate and identify physical activity curriculum/program

X

Identify staff to assist in carrying out programs

X

Partner with external stakeholders

X

Distribute promotional material for Jump2It

X

Train staff on program interventions

X

Implement program in child care centers

X

Implement programs in community centers

X

Administer pretest to caregivers and families

X

Begin education classes for caregivers and families

X

Administer post-test to caregivers and families

X

Gather and evaluate tracking data from classrooms

X

Gather and evaluate caregiver and family tests

X

Evaluation

This test will be administered to caregivers and families on the first day of their education classes and within a week of the conclusion of their classes.

Nutrition Knowledge Test

For the following 8 questions, circle the correct answer.

1. How many servings of fruit are suggested to eat each day?

a. 0 – 1 b. 2 – 4 c. 5 or more

2. How many servings of vegetables are suggested to eat each day?

a. 0 – 2 b. 3 – 5 c. 6 or more

3. Which of the following is equal to 1 serving from the grain group?

a. 1 cup cooked pasta b. 2 slices of bread c. ½ cup cooked pasta

4. Which of the following has the most calories per gram?

a. fat b. protein c. carbohydrate d. water

5. Which of the following foods are high in calcium?

a. chicken b. yogurt c. bread d. pear

6. Which of the following is the healthiest type of fat?

a. all fat is bad b. trans-fat c. monounsaturated d. saturated

7. How many glasses of water do you need each day?

a. 4 b. 6 c. 8 d. 10

Evaluation

During Jump2It, there will be biweekly meetings hosted by the Program Director for the caregivers and families that highlights topics on healthy weight, nutrition and physical activity.

The teaching staff at the child care and community centers will receive training on the basics of healthy weight, nutrition and physical activity. They will be given tips on incorporating these topics into their daily lesson plans. They will be expected to track the number of fruit and vegetables consumed by their class as well as the number of minutes participating in physical activity.

References

Bambra, C., Hillier, F., Cairns, J., Kasim, A., Moore, H., & Summerbell, C. (2015). How effective are interventions at reducing socioeconomic inequalities in obesity among children and adults? Two systematic reviews. Public health research., 3(1).

Kramer, M. R., & Narayan, K. V. (2015). Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine.

Powell, F. (2019). Childhood Obesity: examining the basics and consequences. Sage Publications.

1. World Health Organization.  Global strategy on diet, physical activity, and health: childhood overweight and obesity . Accessed March 9, 2012.

Cawley J and Meyerhoefer C. The Medical Care Costs of Obesity: An Instrumental Variables Approach. Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 219-230, 2012; And Finkelstein, Trogdon, Cohen, et al. Annual Medical Spending Attributable to Obesity. Health Affairs, 2009.

Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010.  JAMA . 2012;307:483-90.