Childhood Obesity

1. Childhood Obesity Mary V. Quinn "Many recent changes to the American lifestyle have resulted in skyrocketing child obesity rates."

2. Main Ideas • Detriments • Food choices • Technology • Why is this a problem? • Healthcare • Emotional Damage • Disorders • Government involvement • Job Shadowing

3. Job Shadowing My friend Emily Brown and I went to the afterschool program at the Mount Olivet Church and talked to the kids about the problem of childhood obesity several days after school. Then we did lots of different fun activities with them such as relay races, an obstacle course, and an Easter egg hunt. Then we had time where we sat down and talked about their food choices and how to spend more time exercising and less time playing video games and watching TV.

4. This is the day we did the exercise lesson. Here I am explaining the importance of exercising outside with friends instead of playing video games that incorporate exercise like Wii fit and Xbox 360 who’s slogan is “you’re the controller” We taught them some basic stretches that they need to do before they engage in any form of physical activity and explained the importance of stretching. Here we are stretching our arms.

5. The same day we did the exercise lesson we talked about the food pyramid and what they different colors meant, and how the should apply that to there own diet. Here I am asking them what the color orange represents on the food pyramid. For the last 15 minutes of the time we were there we let the kids show us what they like to do best after school to get exercise. We played kickball with them while the younger ones played on the swing sets and jungle gym.

6. Product With the help of Karla Coughenour, Dietician at OBX Hospital, I came up with the idea to create a workbook for children ages 6-8, or first through third grade that is a teaching tool. It gives advice on the healthier food choices that the kids can make and reasons why they should choose playing outside, being involved in sports, and getting exercise, over playing video games and watching TV.

7. Product Synthesize My product directly addresses the problem of childhood obesity. It specifically tells children how to live healthier lives, and to share their knowledge with others. This workbook is a tool that I could have used when I was doing my service learning. It provides something tangible that the children will remember better because they heard us say it and they saw it in a book and did a related activity.

8. Information Gap My product fills an information gap because it is an educational tool and America is one of the richest, most progressive countries in the world but one of the least healthy. As Americans, we live in a country with the smallest amount of practical nutrition knowledge. There is a need for education in this area so this workbook can help inform children on what they need to do to be healthier.