School Based Pediatric Obesity Prevention Program...

Education is very important aspect in everyone’s life. Every individual has their own learning style. Every person perceives, interprets and responds to situation in different way (Bastable, 2014, p.61). As a professional person, whenever education interventions are considered, it is necessary to address all age’s populations. Selection of appropriate methods and interventions helps both educators and selected participants. The purpose of this paper is to select appropriate education interventions for childhood obesity. Five nursing researches have selected to address childhood obesity. According to Johnston, et al. (2013), childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States with 32.6% children of ages 6-11 overweight†¦show more content†¦Overall, 835 students were selected. Among 835 students, 509 students participated in PFI and 326 students participated in SH study. Description of the participants. All selected students were between ages 7 and 10 and from different ethnic backgrounds. Major ethnic backgrounds participated in study were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.3%, Hispanic 23.1% and White 28.3%. Among all selected participants 321 students were overweight/obese with body mass index (BMI) greater than 85 percentile, 477 normal weight students with BMI greater than 5th percentile and less than 85th percentile and 37 underweight students’ less than 5th percentile students. Detail of the education intervention. Health professionals assisted teachers, school administration, cafeteria staff and elective staff to create healthier school environment. Health professionals used motivational interviewing approach to enhance motivational changes through exploring and resolving ambivalence for long term behavior changes. Self-help group was provided with integrated healthy messages into existing curriculum but ongoing support was not provided. The main focus of healthy messages were: eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water and less sugary beverages, increasing physical activity, decreasing snacks, screen time and dining out, eat three servings of low-fat dairy every day, eat healthy breakfast and choose an appropriate portion size (Johnston, et al., 2013). Teachers