Childhood Obesity in New Zealand: A Public Health Intervention Report

This report addresses the significant issue of childhood obesity in New Zealand, particularly among Maori and Pacific children, highlighting its prevalence and causative factors like fast food consumption, low physical activity, and ethnic disparities. It emphasizes the importance of public health interventions, such as surveillance, screening, health education, and counseling programs, to combat the issue. The report explores various successful interventions from other countries, including the HEROES initiative, the Food4Thought campaign, and the Change4Life program, focusing on nutrition-based strategies, physical activity promotion, and social media campaigns. It outlines a proposed intervention for primary schools in Christchurch, incorporating nutrition education, increased fruit and vegetable availability, physical activity through racing competitions, and a social media campaign. The rationale for the intervention is based on observational learning, behavior choice models, and health persuasion theories. The report details an action plan involving health assessments, a social media campaign, and the roles of key stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and government bodies. It also addresses potential barriers, such as ethical considerations and funding limitations, and proposes solutions like questionnaires, training programs, and smartphone tracking. Finally, it discusses monitoring and evaluation methods, including BMI calculations, attendance records, and social media metrics, to assess the interventions' effectiveness and outcomes, such as changes in BMI, weight, fitness levels, and health literacy.

Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
Childhood obesity

 Childhood obesity in New Zealand is prevalent among 1 in
8 children
 12% are obese of age 2-14 years, 21% children overweight
 Burden of childhood obesity is very high in Māori and Pacific
children
 18% of Maori and 29% Pacific children diagnosed with
obesity in 2016-2017
 Causative factors- consumption of fast food, sweet
beverages, low physical activity, Maternal obesity,
television advertisement of unhealthy food, Ethnic
differences and low awareness
(Ministry of Health NZ, 2018; Howe et al., 2015)
Assessment 1
What is the issue?

Source: (Ministry of Health NZ
2018)

 Main cause of the preventable deaths in
New Zealand
 Excess prevalence of early life risk factors in
in Māori and Pacific infants
 short term and long term health risks-
cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
 Leads to poor mental health outcomes
 Persistence across life course (Howe et al.,
2015)
Assessment 1
Why is the issue important?

(Source: Ministry of Health NZ 2018)

www.oag.govt.nz, 2018

 Surveillance-monitor health events, and determine
control measures
 Screening - recognise individuals with the health risk
factors
 Health education program- communicate change
related to health issue
 Counselling programmes- promote self-care
 Social media campaigns- create mass awareness (Baker
et al., 2015;
 Public health interventions like physical activity and
social media campaigns are successful in other
countries Briggs et al., 2016)
Assessment 1
Why public health intervention is relevant?

Nutrition based intervention in South Indiana
HEROES initiative - (Healthy, Energetic, Ready,
Outstanding, Enthusiastic, Schools)
school based imitative for childhood obesity
initiative comprise of-
• physical activity education,
• nutrition education,
• nutrition service in school canteen,
• health promotion for staff and family (King
et al., 2014)
Assessment 2
Interventions in other countries

Heroes initiative strategies
• Physical activity- after school walking program,
cardiovascular activities
• Health education- classroom curriculum
integration
• Nutritional services- offering healthy food
mainly fruits and vegetables in school premises
• Administration involvement-support for
HEROES intiative
• Family involvement- family health fair,
communication about wellness
(King et al., 2014)
Assessment 2
Interventions in other countries

Outcomes of HEROES initiative
• Change in school policies
• Instill healthy behavior in children
• Physical education classes/increase in physical
activity
• Decreased consumption- unhealthy food
among students
• Decreases in overweight students
(King et al., 2014)
Assessment 2
Interventions in other countries

 In US, Food4Thought campaign by the British
Heart Foundation has been successful though
moderately in increasing healthy food options
for children and protecting them from
predatory marketing (Wagner, 2015).
 In UK, Change4Life program has been
successful in increasing consumption of 5
portions of fruit and veg each day (Ulijaszek
& McLennan, 2016).
Assessment 2
Interventions in other countries

Nutrition based initiative in Australia-
• “2 Fruit and 5 Veg” campaign as well as
“healthy school canteen strategy” by NSW,
• The “Healthy Together Victoria” campaign
(Dixon et al., 1998)
Nutrition based initiative in Minnesota-
• Successful in Increasing portion size of fruits
and vegetables by 50%, in an elementary
school (oranges, applesauce and carrots)
(Miller et al., 2015)
Assessment 2
Interventions in other countries