Fighting Obesity in Hispanic Children
A. Overall educational goal To propose a health promotion model to achieving increased physical activity in Hispanic children ages 10-14. I will collaborate with schools and catholic churches in promoting and enrolling Hispanic students in after-school programs. I will collaborate with and use materials from the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit). CANFit is an organization that is specialized in helping minority communities to improve their youth’s nutritional and physical activity habits. It offers guidelines and many different, fun programs for children ages 10-14 that are culturally appropriate. CANFit has launched many campaigns that are culturally appropriate and facilitate change in children. These programs include P.H.A.T. (Promoting Healthy Activities Together) for African-American children, R.E.A.L. (Redefining Excellence Activity and Leadership) for Asian American children, and the Adelante Con Leche Semi-Descremada 1% program for Hispanic and Latino children. The goal for any child is 60 minutes of physical activity per day. CANFit offers a “physical activity pyramid” for after school programs that includes 60 minutes of individual activity, activities with parents or group games (California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program, 2007). These activities can be any type of sport, such as basketball or volleyball, playing Frisbee, walking the dog or may include individual activities such as rollerblading or hopscotch. Flexibility and strength exercises, such as circuit training or martial arts are included 2-3 times per week and inactivity such as watching TV or playing video games are listed on top of the pyramid and should be done at a maximum of 2 hours per day (California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program, 2007).
B. Philosophy I will collaborate with teachers, principals, local community leaders and personalities, hospitals and churches. Locations will include school gymnasiums and other community facilities. I will set up informational sessions for parents and children to inform them why our program is important and how the program will benefit their children. I will team up with physical education teachers and also involve the children in our target group in decision making, such as choosing music or activities. Emphasis will be placed on fun and activity rather than competition. Our programs will include games and dance and will include every child continuously rather them having to take turns. We will take surveys of the participating children and incorporate their suggestions into the program.
C. Description of the learners In order to plan and implement an appropriate health promotion education plan, health educators must consider the description of the learners, including their characteristics and influences. These include the learner’s gender, age and developmental characteristics, ethnicity, culture and religion, family constellation and socioeconomics (marital status, occupation, education, and income), health status, and learning characteristics (motivation to learn, ability to learn and experience with content).
Gender, Age and Developmental Characteristics
The health promotion plan will focus on educating both male and female children. The ages of these children will be varying as the plan will pertain to middle childhood and adolescence. The developmental characteristics include physical, cognitive, social, and emotional factors. For middle childhood these characteristics include continued but slower growth, onset of physical issues (overweight/obesity), increased efficiency in processing information, logical reasoning, development of self-concept and self-esteem, and more time with family but development of relationships with peers (Berk, 2007). For adolescence these characteristics include puberty, eating disorders, advanced reasoning, formal operational thinking, self-esteem issues, and more time with peers and less time with family (Berk, 2007). These developmental characteristics are important when considering an education plan as physical, cognitive, social, and emotional factors can influence the child’s learning.
Ethnicity, Culture, and Religion
The health promotion plan will be directed towards members of the Hispanic culture. There are various ethnicities that encompass the Hispanic culture, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central or South Americans, Cubans, and persons from other Spanish origins (Shi & Singh, 2005, p. 250). These learners in the Hispanic culture often belong to the Catholic religious group. According to Glover and Blankenship (2007), 80 – 90% of Hispanics are Catholic but many traditional folk-religions and beliefs mix in with their spirituality and belief system. Hispanics often believe that God is directly involved in health and illness; therefore Hispanic children or family may not take an active role in a healthy lifestyle because they believe that God’s will can determine their health status or through prayers health problems will be avoided. In order to design and implement an education plan, the educator must consider the cultural, ethnic, and religions beliefs and practices that influence the children.
Family constellation and Socioeconomics
Since these children depend on their parents and family to determine their health needs and to comply with recommendations it is important to consider the family constellation (Shi & Singh, 2005). The nuclear family (parents and siblings) as well as any other family members living directly in the home of the child will be considered in the plan. The children can only follow the recommendations if the parents and family also participate because children are affected by and learn from their parent’s beliefs and behaviors. The family is also a major influence on the child’s socioeconomic status. According to Shi and Singh (2005), the socioeconomic status is determined by various factors, including occupation, education and income. These factors play an integral role in the development of the child, including their health and lifestyle. Over one quarter of Hispanic families live below the poverty line, nearly one third have less than a ninth grade education, and they are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured than non-Hispanic populations (Shi & Singh, 2005). The child’s parents may lack the proper knowledge of the importance of physical activity or feel they do not have financial resources to participate in other plans.
Health status The plan will provide health promotion education for children who are within a healthy weight range or who are already experiencing obesity. The point is to promote physical activity for all Hispanic children. For this reason the children can range from having no health problems or from already being affected by obesity, such as social, emotional, or physical problems. These include difficulty with peer relations, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory issues (Berk, 2007). It is important to note that health issues arising in middle childhood and adolescence can affect the child’s future health status.
Learning Characteristics
Through health promotion the children will adapt a lifestyle that is ongoing and their desire to maintain their health will motivate them to follow a physical activity plan. The motivation to learn includes intrinsic factors such as their openness to learn and their perception of the benefits, and extrinsic factors such as the learning environment and interactions with the educator and peers being fun and creative (Rankin, Stallings, and London, 2005). By middle childhood and adolescence, children have developed self-understanding. According to Berk (2007), by middle childhood children have also increased efficiency in processing information and logical reasoning, while by adolescence children have advanced and scientific reasoning as well as formal operational thinking. These children most likely have past experience with physical activity classes in school but unfortunately many school programs do not have physical activity required daily and often these activities do not carry on outside of school. Children have the ability to learn through behavioral learning because positive reinforcements from health educators and the benefits from physical activity will motivate them. Cognitively they can learn as their ability to process information and reasoning has developed by these ages. And through the development of self-understanding and coupling education about the importance of physical activity with their past experience the children are able to learn through constructivism and humanism.
C. Description of the learning environment The California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit) serves low income ethnic children such as obese Hispanic youth through providing information and activities about obesity and physical activity. The learning environment would be one with plenty of youth involvement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation stage to ensure success by producing results that are relevant and interesting to the Hispanic youth. The physical setting will be a recreation center or gymnasium of a school or other facilities that the children can easily access. Local celebrities such as a highly regarded sports person or the high-school quarterback will be involved in education and exercising with the children for additional motivation. Prices for participation in activities will be given out. Group projects and games are planned and the environment is student-centered to provide the children with collaboration from their peers, personal autonomy, active engagement and person relevance maintaining the interest and enjoyment of the children for long-term compliance.
E. Readiness of the learner California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness relies on the readiness of the learner to be motivated and be an active participant and realize their potential in maintaining and enjoying exercise. CANFIT provides information about exercise to obese Hispanic children to help them gain more knowledge and skill and a positive attitude while working with their peers. Obese Hispanic children would work together in an activity-oriented way to encourage further learning and interest into what exercise means to prevent obesity and maintain health. The learner must be an active participant and accept the teacher’s feedback and well as feedback of their peers (California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program, 2007).
Conclusion
Obesity has become an increasing health problem among all children, including children of Hispanic origin. We can achieve the goal of increasing physical activity in the Hispanic population ages 10-14 through health promotion and education and relating the importance and benefits of physical activity to our target group. When developing an effective program the learner's characteristics and influences must be considered. By providing the program and information to children and families in their own communities it allows them to have easy access and therefore increases compliance. In addition, the fun and age appropriate environment will increase the children’s motivation and readiness to learn. Reference
Berk, L. E. (2007). Development Through the Lifespan (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (2007). Retrieved October 13,2008, from http://www.canfit.org
Galanti, G. (2006). Caring for Patients from Different Cultures. Baltimore, MD: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Glover, N. M., & Blankenship, C. J. (2007). Mexican and Mexican Americans' beliefs about god in relation to disability. Journal of Rehabilitation, 73(4), 41-51.
Rankin, S. H., Stallings, K. D., & London, F. (2005). Patient Education in Health and Illness (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2005). Essentials of the US Health Care System. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.