Project Proposal: Addressing Childhood Obesity in Bay of Plenty

This project proposal outlines a government-funded initiative to address the rising rates of childhood obesity in Bay of Plenty. The proposal details the background of the issue, emphasizing the increasing prevalence of obesity among children and its associated health risks. The core of the proposal involves a school check program to identify obese children and refer them to health specialists for lifestyle interventions and clinical assessments. The initiative aims to involve governmental agencies, families, schools, and the wider community, focusing on food choices and physical activity. The proposal highlights the benefits of healthy living, including disease prevention and improved mental health, and concludes with a call for immediate action, emphasizing the need for a team to implement the program and allocate sufficient funds for its success. The project's success will be measured by the completion of the school check program within one year and a comparison of current and previous year's statistics.

[Organization Name]
[Date]
PROJECT PROPOSAL
[Project Name]
Prepared for: Management team
Prepared by:
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Content
1. SUMMARY........................................................................................................ 2
2. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................. 3
3. PROPOSAL DETAILS.......................................................................................... 4
4. NEXT STEPS...................................................................................................... 6
REFERENCES............................................................................................................... 8
APPENDIX.................................................................................................................. 10
1. Summary
Health is a pervasive issue that has attracted a lot of attention in the recent times mainly
as a result of the increase in health complications among people across all ages. Raising
healthy kids is a desire of many parents and countries at large. A healthy children
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population leads to a healthy Adult population (Harris, Nagy & Vardaxis, 2014). Among
the Major health concerns for children are drug Abuse, Childhood obesity, stress,
smoking, Internet safety and bullying among others. Obesity refers to the excessive
accumulation of fats in the body. Childhood obesity is a medical condition which affects
teenagers and children. Childhood Obesity has been found to impair the health of
children significantly (Bulloch, 2013). The selected target is raising healthy kids, which
is aimed at having 99% of children with obesity identified and referred to a health
specialist for lifestyle interventions, family-based nutrition, and clinical assessment by
the end of 2018 (Dovey,2010). The selected initiative to achieve this target is rolling out
a school check program for all teenagers attending school in Bay of Plenty. The initiative
will be fully funded by the government and will be carried out by government health
personnel for a specified period (Keenan, Clery & Reuters, 2010). This proposal is,
therefore, aimed at helping to deal with childhood Obesity in Bay of Plenty through a
government initiative targeted at schools for one year. The success of Raising Healthy
Kids in Bay of Plenty target will be determined by the completion of this school check
program within one year. A comparison of previous year’s statistics with the current
statistics of cases of childhood obesity in plenty of bay will also be used to measure the
success of the initiative.
2. Background
Cases of obesity among people of all ages and gender in Plenty of Bay have continued to
rise over the last ten years. The trend has become more worrying mainly as a result of
increasing number of younger kids becoming obese as compared to the previous years’
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statistics. Children Obesity has now been ranked the top health risk among kids in plenty
of Bay (Okma, 2009).
Obesity occurs as a result of excessive fat in the body which leads to excessive body
weight for particular heights. The widely used tool for measuring obesity among children
is body mass index percentile (BMI percentile) (Moreno, Pigeot & Ahrens, 2011). The
tool is used by health professionals to determine if weights for different kids can be
classified within the healthy range according to the age, sex, and height of a child (Wolin
& Petrelli, 2009). If a child is found to have a BMI at or above the 95th percentile, they
will be classified as obese.
Obesity in children is associated with a wide range of health conditions and makes
children prone to illnesses at tender ages, besides affecting their education and quality of
life (Chang & Johnson, 2017). Through the initiative, the government will be aiming at
eradicating numerous medical conditions associated with childhood including skin
conditions, diabetes, and insulin resistance, Menstrual complications, fatty liver disease,
gallstones, cardiovascular disease orthopedic problems many of which had only been
found in adults previously (Branca, et al., 2007)Raising health kids target will minimize
or eliminate the impact and prevalence of these health conditions which will improve
government’s efficiency in offering health services by lowering demand.
3. Proposal details
The target of raising healthy kids as addressed in this proposal will focus on introducing
early interventions to minimize the prevalence and impact of obesity among children to
ensure that they live a healthy life (Waters & InterScience, 2010). The initiative will
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ensure that all the children identified as obese through the school check program will be
referred to health experts for effective management of any health complications that they
might be diagnosed with as well as any other relevant health eating and activity services
that might be deemed necessary for them and their families. This will be focused towards
the realization of raising healthy kid’s target (Brennan, Kumanyika &Zambrana, 2014).
The initiative will be centered on managing and preventing obesity among children
through the provision of support to those at the risk of becoming obese, the introduction
of intervention mechanisms for children who are already obese and finally enabling
people within Plenty of Bay to make healthier choices thorough introduction of
comprehensive approaches (Ács, et al.,2007) Apart from identifying obesity cases, the
initiative which will bring together governmental agencies families and schools and the
wider community will also encompass an emphasis on food choices and body activity
across all stages (O'Dea & Eriksen, 2010).
Apart from the health conditions associated with childhood obesity, it also brings a lot of
suffering to an individual child due to reduced psychological wellbeing, discrimination,
and stigma (Preedy, 2012). Other consequences in the long term include shorter life
expectancy, long-term health care burden and lower quality of life as well as other
socioeconomic and educational consequences of obesity among kids, who form a big
percentage of the population Bay of Plenty.
Benefits of healthy living
Living a healthy life has been a challenge in Bay of plenty due to among other factors the
availability of fast foods and the lack of emphasis on physical exercise for people across
all gender (Whitney, et al,2013) Numerous benefits can be associated with healthy living
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for kids in Bay of Plenty including the prevention of diseases and health conditions
associated with childhood obesity, maintenance of normal body weight limits which lead
to an improved general well being and minimize the risk of heart-related complications
(Safdar & Berezecka, 2015). The mental health of an individual is also dependent on
lifestyle choices good mental health can, therefore, sharpen the memory of a child and
improve their overall which will have an impact in their education and overall well being.
Degenerative diseases such as Obesity, coronary diseases among others occur as a result
of dietary choices by individual .While these can have profound impact on the wellbeing
and health status of an individual living a healthy life characterized by physical exercise
and good dietary choices can help in eliminating the risk of developing these health
conditions.
The initiative will, therefore, lead to an elimination of the majority of Childhood obesity
cases in the Bay of plenty, as well as improving the awareness on healthy living to
parents and people across ages and gender in order to improve the overall wellness of the
people in the region (McMurray & Clendon, 2011). The proposal is therefore intended to
promote the overall wellness of not only children in this region but also other inhabitants
4. Next Steps
In conclusion, Childhood obesity is a serious issue that threatens to jeopardize healthcare
in Bay of plenty if the issue is not addressed in a timely manner. The number of children
being diagnosed with obesity is growing at an alarming rate which calls for government
intervention before the situation becomes unmanageable (Stettler & Shelly, 2009). The
main concern for this issue is that it is associated with numerous health conditions
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including diabetes and coronary diseases which for a long time have been a preserve for
adults and which in the recent times have also been found in children. Due to the serious
issues raised in this proposal, an immediate intervention is required in the form of the
discussed healthy living initiative which will entail, examination of school going kids to
ascertain their vulnerability to childhood obesity and referring them to selected health
care providers to facilitate management of the condition. This initiative will also include
remedy strategies such as educating the parents on dietary choices and exercise options.
The management is therefore requested to consider this proposal, appoint a team to
actualize it in the minimum time possible and set aside sufficient funds to make the
initiative a success.
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References
Bulloch, E. R. (2013). Obesity in New Zealand children and adolescents: The role of
eating frequency and sleep duration.
Branca, F., Nikogosian, H., Lobstein, T., & World Health Organization. (2007). The
challenge of obesity in the WHO European Region and the strategies for
response. Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO Regional Office for Europe.
Dovey, T. M. (2010). Eating behaviour. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw
Hill/Open University Press.
Brennan, V. M., Kumanyika, S. K., & Zambrana, R. E. (2014). Obesity interventions in
underserved communities: Evidence and directions.
Chang, E., & Johnson, A. (2017). Living with chronic illness and disability: Principles
for nursing practice.
Harris, P., Nagy, S., & Vardaxis, N. J. (2014). Mosby's dictionary of medicine, nursing &
health professions
Keenan, R., Clery, L., & Thomson Reuters. (2010). Health care and the law. Wellington
[N.Z.: Brookers.
McMurray, A., & Clendon, J. (2011). Community health and wellness: Primary health
care in practice. Chatswood, N.S.W: Elsevier Australia.
Moreno, L. A., Pigeot, I., & Ahrens, W. (2011). Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and
Adolescents [recurso electrónico]: Prevalence and Etiology. Estados Unidos:
Springer New York.
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O'Dea, J. A., & Eriksen, M. P. (2010). Childhood obesity prevention: International
research, controversies, and interventions. Oxford [U.K: Oxford University Press
Okma, K. G. H. (2009). Six countries, six reform models--the healthcare reform
experience of Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and
Taiwan: Healthcare reforms "under the radar screen". New Jersey: World
Scientific.
Preedy, V. R. (2012). Handbook of growth and growth monitoring in health and disease.
New York: Springer
Safdar, S. F., & Kosakowska-Berezecka, N. (2015). Psychology of gender through the
lens of culture: Theories and applications.
Stettler, N., & Shelly, M. G. S. (2009). Living with obesity. New York: Facts on File.
Waters, E., & Wiley InterScience (Online service). (2010). Preventing childhood obesity:
Evidence, policy and practice. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Whitney, E., Crowe, T., Rolfes, S. R., Smith, D. C., & Walsh, A. (2013). Understanding
nutrition.
Wolin, K. Y., & Petrelli, J. M. (2009). Obesity. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press.Á
cs, Z. J., Lyles, A., Stanton, K. R., & Dawsonera. (2007). Obesity, business and public
policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
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Appendix
Provide any supporting material for your proposal here.
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