Health Promotion Community Project Paper

Regional School Unit (RSU) #64 is comprised of an elementary, middle and high school within a small rural community in the town of Corinth, ME. This community is largely supported by agriculture and local business. However, it is about 20 miles from Bangor, ME, the closest city with numerous resources. Unfortunately, this distance restricts Corinth residents with a lack of transportation from having access to these resources. Inadequate knowledge and awareness of health care promotion and prevention methods also have adverse results on community health. Whether the resource be obtaining a pair of glasses or medication from a pharmacy, even the seemingly effortless tasks can present challenges and go to show that members of this community suffer disparity due to their rural location.

“The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake” a quote made by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, as she launches her comprehensive initiative to change the way children think about nutrition and physical fitness (“Learn the Facts,” 2010). Three decades ago, children lived active lives that kept them healthier. They walked to and from school, ate home cooked, reasonable portion meals with vegetables and played outdoors most of the time. Today, children ride the bus instead of walk, eat more fast food and snacks throughout the day because parents are busier, and watch more television or play video games rather than be active outside with peers (“Learn the Facts,” 2010). Young children are becoming overweight and obese along with being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes more frequently. They are making poor dietary choices, inadequate physical activity, and spending too much screen time all contributing to the obesity crisis. One of the effective solutions to reversing the trend of childhood obesity is to provide safe, affordable and accessible after-school health and physical fitness educational programs for all school ages across the nation.

        The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act (Public Law 108-265) was passed by Congress in 2004 (Corbin & McKenzie, 2008). The act requires all public schools, or schools with federal funding, to develop a wellness plan for the students (Corbin & McKenzie, 2008).  The policy is attached to increase opportunities for nutrition, physical education and encouragement of better food choices outside of school boundaries (Virgilio, 2009). While the sentiment is clearly positive, whether or not it works or favors certain populations is unclear. The Child Nutrition Act guidelines are a model, since some schools are not adequately funded, other vendors come into play that do not have the best interests of our children at

Thank you for your interest in the San Joaquin County Safe Routes to School Network. The network seeks to join together parties across the county including parents, teachers, health advocates, community members, and business owners to improve the health of youth in the county. By promoting physical activity before and after school, students gain opportunities to form healthy habits and lead healthy lives. In these newsletters, you will receive information about current and future activities for Safe Routes to School, recent research or journals, and ideas of how to support programs. Small actions such as speaking to youth about health benefits or partnering with schools can create a positive environment for students. Together we

It is important for pre-adulthood intervention because prevention of overweight and obesity in early childhood can in the long run, attenuate the high prevalence of excessive weight among older adults. (Moreno, L) With the assistance of specific health programs and initiatives schools are able to best assist, guide and support students with their dietary patterns and nutritional choices, thus addressing some of the factors effecting adolescent obesity. Two intervention programs/initiatives that can be, and have been, incorporated well into schools are:

The program is to address the children about obesity and also to the community. Policy can affect these elementary students by giving them better opportunity to have healthy ways rather than having more risk of getting obesity. People can modify the various risk factors into protective factors by having a change in policy. School board in Oakland can change their policy about physical activity by including P.E. classes, intramural sports for students to attend so that they can be physically active. Even outside of school, some children have little or no access to a place where they can be active. The community can petition for more parks around the neighborhood, where the city hall can produce a policy leading to creation of parks and protecting

We are evaluating Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA), a multi-level obesity prevention program that includes Head Start children, parents, and staff. Designed at the University of California-Los Angeles, Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA) is a national program that was piloted at Head Start in Columbia, MO in 2013. The program consists of staff training, parent training, and a coordinated classroom curriculum led by staff. They expanded the program to include medical students from University of Missouri, Columbia. Medical students take part in 4 training sessions and 3 EHSA parental education sessions. Topics for student training sessions include: culture of poverty, nutrition in the low-income populations, health literacy, while parent training

There are many types of people in a community. Whether one categorizes by age, health, or even wealth, each person falls into a group. The group of choice for focus is young school age children. This group includes children, male and female, from five years of age to seven years of age. These children are in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. These children are in a slow and steady growth and development. At this age they should be highly active, enjoy learning, and allow curiosity to peak their interests. It is this age group one can explore health promotion strategies used, problems encountered, health care availability, and health education.

The Community Guide (TCG) is a website offering a plethora of resources useful to community health workers (Truman, Smith-Akin, Hinman, et al., 2000). It is one place in which professionals may seek information on which interventions do and do not work. The literature provided is valid and backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other supporting organizations, agencies, and researchers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) established this resource, also known as The Community Preventive Services Task Force, in 1996. As mentioned above, the original goal was to simply provide communities with interventions for disease prevention and health promote on in regards to what does and does not

Children who were classified into the intervention groups were selected to participate in the after-school health program, while the comparison groups participated in other after-school programs (such as yearbook development and young scientists). They used the modified version of the Traffic Light Diet model and the importance of exercise which they applied the traffic light but more concentrated on the green and red colored foods. The objectives of this program was to enhance the knowledge of young children of healthy eating and the importance of exercise.1 Children of both schools worked weekly with a coach to discuss healthy eating and exercise using motivational interviewing; each week they had to select one healthy eating and one exercise goal which they can work on at

Strengthening community action is instrumental in establishing positive health outcomes in young people. In strengthening community action, various support networks are put into place to not only prevent

Upon reviewing the community vitality data I came to the conclusion that the health problem that a health education program would be most appropriate to address would be childhood nutritional health and fitness. I came to this conclusion after careful data analysis. Of the county’s adults (18+) 77% ate less than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, this percentage is so high likely because of attitudes and habits these adults picked up when they were children. The second largest age demographic in the county is children aged 10 to 17 are overweight, six percent more than the state average, 88% of children age 10 to 17 are not meeting daily targets for fruit and vegetable consumption and 30% age 10 to 17 watch 3 or

This statistic alone should engage the backing for this to be a considered a priority health program in every community throughout this nation. However, many communities may be faced with collecting the type of data needed to identify their specific needs. This can vary greatly depending on resources allocation and the expertise available, therefore an additional level of assistance may be needed from outside sources. Because of this it is important to take an organized approach by enlisting representatives from schools, restaurants, medical providers, parks and recreation, community leaders and parents to establish interventions that can be implemented within the community. Many times the community identified approaches that address this issue will vary depending on the resources, size of the population, socioeconomic status and extent of cultural diversity. All representatives should work together to break down the barriers of children achieving appropriate nutritional intake, participating in physical activity and gaining access to healthcare. One of the main challenges is establishing community-based intervention programs is that the effort has to been driven by professionals rather than by a grass roots movement demanding change (Phychology and Sociology, 2010). Once created at the community level the newly designed programs addressing childhood

Childhood obesity is epidemic in the United States and is expected to increase the rates of many chronic diseases in children. Healthy nutrition and physical activity are keys to obesity prevention. Policy interventions in school that make healthy dietary and activity choices are easier and likely to achieve the greatest benefits. A comprehensive approach involving multiple stakeholder is important in reducing obesity epidemic. Government at national, state and local level must take action. The health care system, schools, and community organizations also have critical roles. School need to improve the quality of food option and encourage parents to role model healthy behavior at home. A cross sectoral approach is beneficial in reducing obesity

My community health volunteer project consisted of a group of ladies and myself. Kristin (our fearless leader), Erica (her “twin” sister), Julie (the tall one), Kallie (the new Yorker - enough said), and myself (the guy - referred to as just one of the gals). Kristin worked hard emailing and calling many different organizations attempting to secure volunteer time for us. We originally wanted to work with children in some capacity and eventually found what seems like a great organization called Gigi’s Playhouse. Gigi’s is across the street from Scottsdale Shea Hospital. I’ve worked at the hospital 3-1/2 years and never knew Gigi’s existed. Gigi’s is an organization for children with Down Syndrome and they offer tons of great activities