Healthy Eating and Active Living Program (HEAL)

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19 Feb 2019
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Introduction
Healthy eating and active living Program (HEAL) has been initiated within the local
community of Washington, to educate and promote healthy practices at individual level. The
program aims to teach the local community about the rising issue of obesity and diabetes among
men, women and children.
The objective of this report is to discuss HEAL program and illustrating its contribution
to the betterment of community. The workflow of HEAL in conjunction to educate and monitor
the practice of community members and their partnership with other comprehensive
interdisciplinary services are therefore discussed.
Brief description of the program
According to the report of National Health survey, it is found that 55% of adult women,
68% of adult men and 20% of children in US are suffering from obesity (Wernham & Teutsch,
2015). HEAL program creates awareness about the adverse effect of obesity and highlights the
necessary changes requisite to remain healthy among the localities. In particular, it educates
people that obesity increases the risk factor of cancer related to breast, pancreas, kidney, bowel,
and endometrium; as well as it leads to long-term diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type-2
diabetes, arthritis, back pain, infertility and psychological problem.
The structure and governance of the program consists mainly of (i) programme team; and
(ii) national implementation group. In particular, the governance team includes (i) oversight
group; (ii) national director health and wellbeing; and (iii) national implementation group. The
program team comprises of (i) national lead; (ii) project managers; (iii) administration support;
and (iv) research or policy support. The implementation plan contains the responsibility to focus
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the action in accordance to the healthy weight group and active population (Golden, Schneider &
Wood, 2016).
The policy measures included within HEAL program scope also include monitoring of
environmental changes and framework of system to include school going children, elderly
population, and lactating mothers. This include identification of risk as well as corresponding
mitigation strategies for areas like physical activity, food and nutrition level, and supporting
breastfeeding.
Contribution of HEAL program to overall health of community
The volunteers in the program are assigned with the task of handling at least 8 families
residing in the community. Each volunteer has to study the behaviour and eating habit of the
assigned family member, in order to explore and make them healthier (Obama 2016). They
encourage the families to grow fruits and vegetables in their backyard and make them understand
the value of home cooked food. Research suggests that fast food is the main reason behind
obesity, especially among children (Mensinger, Calogero & Tylka, 2016). Moreover, they also
encourage the families to practice physical activity daily, like morning walk, cycling, aerobics,
or dancing. Additionally, the recommendation also include practice of yoga. Public place such as
park are provided with free recreational opportunities which can be accessed by the people
according to their fitness level (King, Glanz & Patrick, 2015). Parks provides the opportunity for
social connectivity as well as an open space to do physical activity. Similarly, the kids of the
families are motivated to get involved in outdoor games rather than with TV and videogames.
They also provide Community education related to necessary health issues and proper nutritional
requirement, in regular intervals. Children of the locality are encouraged to take part in healthy
food eating competition and simultaneously teach them the benefits of eating those foods.
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