Promoting Healthy Living



Cover Letter:Longwood University 201 High Street Farmville, VA 23909April 16, 2017To Whom this may concern,My name is Tiana Hackett. I would like to propose my plan that insists on prevention and treatment of childhood obesity and teaching and developing healthy eating habits beginning within the school system. My plan is to transform the likelihood of all children from becoming overweight and developing health problems. The mission we are trying to achieve is to give children more access to healthier meals and physical activity in and outside the classroom. The goal here is to encourage our children to live a healthier lifestyle, starting at an early age.A priority that is needed for my proposal, which operates meals, after-school programs, and more physical activity throughout the school day. Is funding for healthier foods, physical equipment, and games. I will also be raising money by fundraiser such as a 5k run, Jump rope for heart, a walk-a-thon, etc. For the fundraiser staff, I will rely on volunteers that are equipped to motivate kids to be active. I feel that the fundraiser would be a fun way for kids and their families to participate in being healthy. Any contribution from the schoolboard would help support my plan, but I would like to be considered for at least $7000. That will make a meaningful difference in the lives of our youth, and anyone who contributes can rely in the fact that they would become part of the solution into bettering the lives and health of the future generation. Funding from the school board will give us the jump start I need while we continue to develop our fund-raising plan. I believe that our proposal is consistent with the mission and interest of the children. I hope that you will find it in your hearts to help budget our plan. I will be happy to personally meet with the school board to present this proposal and provide additional information. Thank you for your time and consideration in the important matter,Tiana Hackett “The rise of obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk “-Tom Vilsackcenter250002514600Promoting Healthy LivingCharlottesville County Public Schools91700100000Promoting Healthy LivingCharlottesville County Public Schoolscenter800007498080April 16, 2017Authored by: Tiana Hackett100000100000April 16, 2017Authored by: Tiana HackettSummary: In the following proposal, you will find background information on childhood obesity, dietary guidelines, research on benefits of physical activity and nutritional meals. Along with Charlottesville county actions plans that they have took to change the problem such as reduce lunch plan and fitness program. The intent of this project is to help decrease childhood obesity and help children develop good eating habits. We are proposing that elementary school should have more physical activity and nutritional meals to help prevent obesity in children. Our plan insists of finding fun ways to get children engaged in physical activity and healthy eating in and outside the classroom. We have listed the cost of the materials and our funding plan. We believe that it is important to teach children at an early age to be healthy. We hope that you take the time to read and consider our proposal.While promoting a healthy living style to the children it is important that we implicate as best as we can in their daily school routine. The first step to a healthier lifestyle is motivation. One way to motivate the younger generation would be to encourage them in games and activities. As technology advances we recognize that students are mainly getting their entertainment from an electronic device. With our goal in mind we found that adding electronic games such as Wii or Xbox Kinect to the school’s Physical Education Program will motivate students to get up and move. The Wii or Xbox Kinect will be used as a section of the semester for students to dance or play online sports. However, along with the electronic sports we find it very important that each school has proper equipment to continue encouraging students to get up and move. While the initial cost may be higher, once the equipment is bought no further expenses will need to be made. Providing the children with footballs, basketballs, jump ropes along with a handful of other equipment will keep them motivated and active throughout the day and throughout their life. Background information:Obesity is a disorder involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. Statistics and data shows that obesity has been increasing since the 1970s to present day. Some causes of obesity are being inactivity, unhealthy diet or eating habits, genetics, family lifestyle, medications, and age. The extent of childhood obesity can lead to health and psychological problems such as diabetes and low self-esteem and depression. In figure 1 the chart explains the weight status. Figure 1BMIWeight StatusBelow 18.5 Underweight18.5-24.9Normal25.0-29.9Overweight30.0-34.9Obese (Class 1)35.0-39.9Obese (Class 11)40.0 and higher Extreme Obesity (Class 111)There have been multiple strategies to help prevent obesity in children such as Virginia laws, organizations, and dietary guidelines. Dietary guidelines states that ever five years the U.S department of agriculture and Health and Human Service must jointly publish a report containing nutritional and dietary information and guidelines for the public. Previous dietary guidelines focused on individual dietary components such as food groups and nutrients. Charlottesville health department have included a program were students can get free and reduced price meals if their families are not able to afford to pay for their child’s lunch. Charlottesville also has a physical health program which is available to all student with a goal of at least 150 minutes and elementary students enjoy recess every day for approximately thirty minutes. Some other solutions that Charlottesville took in action to decrease childhood obesity and is partnering up with the community local food hub for purchasing, city schoolyard garden fund for education, and black bear composting for composting students lunch scarps. Charlottesville also works with school health advisory board to enact policies and programs that support the health and well-being of students, families, and staff. Project Narrative: Childhood obesity is a problem because it can result into poor health and psychological problems in young children. The lack of nutritional foods and exercise can lead to children becoming overweight. Even though Charlottesville has programs that can help reduce obesity. They can still improve them by adding more healthy foods and physical activity. Furthermore, get families and teachers more involved to set a good example for their children. We believe that childhood obesity is critically important to the health and success of the younger generation. They should be taught on how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle. A satisfactory solution is to find fun ways for children to exercise and get families and teachers involved. Our proposal will give children more access to nutritional meals for breakfast, lunch, and snack to help eliminate junk food and beverages. Along with new physical equipment and games for everyday use. The outcome can decrease the chance of childhood obesity and teach them healthy eating habits and different physical activities. We will evaluate the outcome by the number of student’s teachers, and family members who are involved.Benefits of physical activity in the classroom can affect learning and behavior. A cross sectional data shows that obesity children have lower grades and standardized test scores, as well as more behavioral problems than their healthier peers (Berezowitz, Bontrager, & Schoeller). A common behavior disorder that children face is ADHD which may be linked to obesity in children. Findings were reported in a study that children aged 8-17 years old were hospitalized for obesity. Over half (57.7%) met the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD. Results shows that ADHD was positively associated with both overweight and obesity (Pagoto, et al). What can help is incorporating physical activity in a lesson plan in the morning routine, and after school. Children spend most of their time at school, so school can promote healthy food choices. The lack of accessible and affordability of healthy food can affect the nutrition of children. Giving students more access to nutritional food can help promote decision making and help them understand the benefits. Method:Throughout the county in Charlottesville we will attempt to better teach and incorporate a healthy lifestyle amongst the children. We can start by gathering as much information of the children, who are willing to be a part of this, based on BMI and their current health without being to invasive or knocking the confidence of any of the children. After that we can start the health kick by having the schools teach the children that exercise can be a fun and enjoyable thing and doesn't necessarily have to be something to dread. The reason we want to do this is to help cut the rate of obesity amongst children. We can ensure recess stays in tact because children are more likely to play harder when there is no schedule to follow that you might see in a gym class. In the Physical Education classes, however, we thought we could try incorporating videos games that use the body as the controller like the Wii or the Xbox Kinect. This can start to get kids active without them even realizing. ?We will not only be incorporating fun exercises and sports to stay active, but we want the teachers to begin educating about overall healthy living and what that incorporates. Along with the P.E. classes doing that, we want the schools to begin to serve some healthier alternatives during the breakfasts and lunches. There are many things out there that are healthy, delicious, and affordable. By adding these options to the lunches the children can have a chance at eating healthier and are also being educated on possible options to be eating at home as well. Lastly, we want to involve parents in as many ways as possible because by having them on board as well it creates a better chance for the children to succeed. We will be sending home some flyers with the kids on some tidbits of education so the parents can have a general idea of what it takes as well. Periodically a few of the schools can also host a presentation explaining different health aspects like fats, carbs, and proteins, ways exercise affects the body, and possible side effects of smoking or being inactive and then explain ways to improve them. The main thing we want to be sure of as well to that the school is a place that all the children can benefit and add to their healthier lifestyle. It doesn't matter the income of the family, the current situation of the child in regard to health, or the amount of possible time they have available. We want to give everyone the best opportunity to succeed in making Charlottesville a healthier place for children. After the school year, we will get more information from the kids to see if they’ve lost weight or if they’ve become healthier and compare to the start. This will hopefully become something to do at the start and end of every school year. The information will have to be kept confidential other than the teachers directly involved and the administration running the programs.In order to keep our students motivated and active at school it is important to provide them with proper equipment and entertainment. We believe that if students have the proper materials they will be more motivated at school to get active and that will eventually carry out onto their daily lives. When jump-starting this healthy lifestyle in the schools the expenses will be higher on the front end. Meaning there will have to be more money put down to buy the proper materials within the first few years, then after that there will be no need to buy in bulk. In order to provide each student an equal opportunity at each piece of equipment the school would need a budget of about $9,000-$10,000. This will include footballs, basketballs, jump-ropes, soccer goals, pedometers, Wii’s and many more. In order to provide our students with the proper equipment it is crucial that the schools hold fundraisers as well as budget very carefully. We encourage the schools to hold fundraising activities such as a 5k or Fall Festival. These types of fundraisers will allow the parents and families to see the passion behind the teachers actions as well as the goal behind our healthy living program. Once the support system of the children see the goal and the path we are clearing for them they will be more willing to motivate their children as well as themselves, almost like a chain reaction. Below is the list of items and how much they cost.Football $7-12 (X20) = $140-240Soccer Ball $7-12 (X20) = $140-240Basketball $8-15 (X20) = $160-300Foam Balls (set of 6) $40- (X10) =$400Kickballs (set of 6) $50-60 (X10) = $500-600Pickle Balls $2 (X40) =$80Plastic Bat $9-12 (X20) = $180-240Foam Bat $15-20 (X20) = $300-400Jump Rope (set of 6) (beaded) $15-20 (X40) =$600-800(speed) $17-20 (X40) =$680-800Scooter $25+ (X40) = $1000Beanbags (set of 6) $8-15 (X30) = $240-450Hula Hoops (set of 12) $40-80 (X20) = $800Cones (set of 6) $40-60 (X20) = $800-1200Poly Spots (set of 6) $17-25 (X40) =$680-1000Parachute $30-100 (X2) = $60-200Soccer goals Regular Size $140-250 (X2) = $280-500Mini (set of 2) $16-30 (X4) = $64-120Flag football (set of 12) $18-25 Pull up bar $25 (X2) =$50Pedometer (set of 2) $10 (X 40) =$40Wii$400-700Remote Controls (set of 2) $40Games $5-25Total= $1,000XboxKinect sensor $90Console $290-Total=$600Scale $15-30 (X3) = $45OutcomesIncreased attentional capacityIncreased test scoresDecreased child obesity Decreased disruptive behaviorIncreased physical fitnessIncreased energyIncreased overall healthIncreased longevity of life Above are just a few of the many possible outcomes of this program. The students benefit in overall health, but studies have shown improvements in grades and test scores in physically active students. The outcomes are truly endless when the parents get on board as well. With family involvement potential for success is incredibly higher.Conclusion:The potential results from incorporating this program speak for themselves. By having a healthier student, the academics in the schools will also increase. The schools are focused on grades and results and many studies have shown exercise and good health are great and simple ways to help achieve them. Physically active students will also be more engaged and less likely to disrupt the class. The attentional span of ADHD students is also improved when they’re given the chance to be active. By helping to reduce the obesity rates in the children of Charlottesville, the children can become smarter and more educated in academics and healthy living. The cost would only be around $7000 dollars to get this program kick started. It would start get us to where we need to then do fundraiser that can help teach and raise more money for the program. The other potential costs go into tools needed for the schools that can give the children fun outlets for physical activity. We strongly believe this program can be successful in creating a better learning environment for the elementary school kids. It will also help teach the importance of health to the future generations and lower obesity rates for them and future elementary school kids. Thank you for your time and consideration and hope to hear from you soon to help promote healthy living.Work Cited“2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. N.p, n.d. Web.Berezowits, Claire K., Bontrager Yoder Andrea B., and Dale A. Schoeller. “School Gardens Enhance Academic Performance and Dietary Outcomes in Children.” Journal of School Health. Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 07 July 2015. Web.“Charlottesville City Schools- School Nutrition and Fitness. N.p., n.d. WebDavis, Catherine L., et al. "Effects of aerobic exercise on overweight children's cognitive functioning: a randomized controlled trial." Research quarterly for exercise and sport 78.5 (2007): 510-519.“Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d. Web.“Meal Application.” Charlottesville City Schools. N.p., n.d Web.Medina, José A., et al. "Exercise impact on sustained attention of ADHD children, methylphenidate effects." ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders 2.1 (2010): 49-58.“Obesity Complications.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 June 2015. Web. “Obesity Rates & Trends Overview.” Obesity Rates & Trends Overview: The State of Obesity. N.p., n.d. Web“Physical Fitness Programs.” Charlottesville City Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. Pagoto, Sherry L., and Carol Curtin. “Association Between Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Obesity in the US Population.” Obesity. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 06 September 2012. Web.“Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.” Taylor and Francis Online. N.p., n.d. Web. ................
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