Enlisting and Providing Support
•Questions
you have with which your colleagues may be able to provide help and support
The
first question that I would like for someone to answer is childhood obesity has
both immediate and long-term effects on health and well-being. Once we work
with the parents to make sure that they understand the importance of healthy
eating and daily exercise, how can I keep track of the families to make sure
that their child continues to stay healthy? I know that there is only so much
that a teacher can do but I would like to check on that family from time to
time to make sure that they are on the right track. I know that school play a
critical role in promoting the health and safety of children and helping them
establish lifelong healthy behavior but once that child is no longer at the
school what can I do to continue to support the family.
The
next question is if the parent is offended when they are told that their child
is obese or at risk for being obese, what would be the best way to handle the
situation. I know that most parents are sensitive when it comes to their
children and once they are offended what can I say or do to make them
understand that my best interest is their child’s health? How can I turn a
negative situation into a positive one? I have never been in a situation like
this but I have seen parents upset and offended in situation. I would need to
know to handle this or what to say if I get in a situation like this.
•Resources
and information you are seeking
I
am not seeking too much information because I have found so much information
and research, and resources on childhood obesity. But if you would like to
share web-sites, flyers, or anything with me, I would really appreciate it. It
might be information that I have overlooked or haven’t found as of yet.
•Resources
and/or information you have found helpful and insightful
This
web-site talks about how schools can help children and adopt and maintain
healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. It provides evidence-based
guidance for schools on how to implement policies and practices that
effectively promote healthy choices and behaviors among children.
It
tells about how obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children
and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his
or her age and height. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the
extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once
confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression.
It
gives facts about how adult and childhood obesity have increased substantially
in the last 30 years. It states that currently, 31% of adults and 18% of
children are obese. It says that the vast majority of obesity represents an
imbalance in calories ingested vs. calories expended. It states that other
causes of obesity metabolic, medicines, and other diseases are very rare.
It also describe how is childhood
obesity diagnosed. In order to systematically describe obesity, the concept of
body mass index (BMI) was developed. BMI is the ratio between an individual's
weight to height relative to their gender and age. BMI addresses the following
question: Is the weight of the subject in excess of what is healthy for a given
height? Generally (but not always), BMI correlates with the amount of body fat,
but it is not a measurement of fat. An individual who has more than the average
muscle mass for a given height (for example, weight lifters) will have an
elevated BMI but clearly will not be obese.
References
Kieff,
J. (2009). Informed advocacy in early childhood care and education. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
As far as keeping track of the children after they have left your classroom a possibility could be to hold a wellness night. At the wellness night you could promote exercise, healthy eating as well as have a health professional there to do wellness checks for the children to check their health. Also sending home monthly newsletters with exercises and healthy recipes.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to handle offended parents is to be as polite as possible and give them facts and information in a respectful way. They know in the back of their mind that you are only doing what is best for their child in the long run. They may be offended and upset at first but they will understand where your coming from eventually.
Love that your topic is on wellness. It is so important this day and age for children to eat healthy, get exercise, and stay active.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are incorporating healthy recipes and exercise routines into your monthly newsletter.
Great topic!!
Good luck on your presentation!!
Lisa
I like the idea of tracking. You can do monthly or quarterly wellness nights where you provide healthy snacks, an exercise activity, etc. At the wellness nights you can have a monthly height and weight check. This way you can track progress and make sure children are at a healthy weight.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to talk to specific families who have overweight children, but you also want to make sure you are not singling them out...I would make sure that your events are for all who want to attend in the class or school.
I think that your efforts to counteract childhood obesity is such a good idea. I think that in order to track the children, you will definitely have to find a way to keep in touch with them. This may be something as simple as having a yearly or bi-annual get together that involves some sort of family fun night of games, etc. This would allow you to see the children without singly out that you are "checking up" on the families.
ReplyDeleteI think that anytime you talk to parents about a concern with their child, you are at risk of offending them. I try and figure out his family before I talk to them. Some parents would prefer the direct approach while others may need some more reassurance that you are not blaming them for the problem. This is an area that still makes me nervous, but as a parent myself I know that I would want to know if there were concerns with my children.
I found a real easy flyer that could be made up for you to help parents of young children in the www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org/ website. It is 5 easy goals to help kids off to a healthy start and would be easy for parents to follow. It is not offensive to parents either but just jives them a guideline to follow that's simple and easy. I think you have some great information and by staying upbeat and positive will help you get your message across. I do agree that you may want to talk to specific families but not single them out as mentioned in Jennifer's post.
ReplyDelete