“This is my passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition”. (First Lady Michelle Obama).
What inspires me most about advocating for childhood obesity is I know that the research and information that I share will help young child and their families to live longer and stay healthy. Whether a child is at risk of being overweight, becoming overweight or currently at a healthy weight, I will do everything that I can to help them get or stay on the right track. What excites me is that I know that I will be able to help some of our families and children avoid becoming obese. I know that I can do this by practicing and modeling healthy eat habits in the classroom, and planning and encouraging our children to participate in regular physical activity during inside and outside play.
The challenges that I feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts that I have target is parents involvement in changing their children eating habits at home. This is a challenge that I think will be one of my biggest problem. Another challenge would be getting the schools meal plan changed. These are the two things that I feel would be a challenging for me.
The best and most effective way to overcome challenges is to have that "never quit" attitude towards whatever accomplishments that I am are trying to make. I must have the passion and believe in what I am doing. I must be willing to be the voice for the people in who I am advocating for. If I gain the confidence and believe, I know that I can achieve my goals and be successful.
I can encourage others by helping them find different resources and information about their topic. I will let them know that what they are fighting for are important and that he or she must stand up and be the voice for that topic. I will tell them that they must give it their all and in doing so, they will see positive outcomes in the end. I would tell them when they feel like giving up; remember why they held on and believed for so long in the first place.
Hello Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your personal advocacy journey. Advocating for something that is greatly needed is very inspiring . Providing information, modeling and planning are all great tools that can be used to promote your advocacy ideas. The challenges that you listed are real, and you will need to find creative ways to get families on board. Maybe you could have the children and families create recipe books that contains quick recipes for healthy meals and snacks. It's going to be extremely important to get as many families on board as possible. Getting the schools meal plan changed is also going to be challenging, but your efforts can and will have an impact if you maintain an attitude of "never quitting". I applaud you for your efforts in tackling such a great issue. I also encourage you to get involve with others who are advocating for the same cause. One person can make a change, but I believe their is power in numbers.
Hello Brenda, I am so excited as I read your Advocacy Action Plan. There are so many situations to consider with reference to the child with obesity and the parent.
ReplyDeleteFinding resources to share, as well as being a model for the children and the families is always a plus. When we think of an Advocacy action plan we think of the people in high places who are willing and able to give us support.
I think about Administrators, elected officials,neighborhood workers, State Legislators nutritionist and the Food Aid's at our schools. We often give trainings to the families of children who are at risk for being overweight. It is good that when we suspect an overweight child we provide support for them and the family immediately.
Resources that you find are great to share, and it is also good to provide case studies that we find on the web.Thank you for sharing your Aadvocacy Action plan. Good luck with your plan.I like your attitude "never, never quit".
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that your two biggest challenges will be getting the parents to change their eating habits and also making changes to the school's meal plan. I do not know what state you are in but I am in Illinois and we are provided with very strict guidelines that we have to use to develop our menus. That is one consideration the school must take into account and then there is always the issue of money. Many times they are limited to the menu items simply because of the cost of the items and as a result they are left of the menu, such as fresh fruit or vegetables.
I like the quote that you chose and I hope that First Lady Obama has a great impact on the lives of young children in our society.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I think that educating children and others about how to live a healthy lifestyle is a great advocacy project. I think that the number of children that are overweight in our country is astounding. We need to teach children about healthy eating habits, being active and hopefully this will encourage their parents to change their ways, too! I hope that you are able to come up with a plan to educate and motivate the parents so that they will be able to better their lives and their children's lives. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteI like your saying about "never quit". This is such a great way to think and will help you get through when things are tough. I also agree that challenges are going to get parents to change their own eating habits. We have a big problem with obesity in our children with obese parents. You can see the children following in the footsteps of their parents because of the eating habits. Children look up to and respect their parents and teachers and having the right role models will help the children to not become obese.
ReplyDeleteDear Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI feel that childhood obesity is important because there are many children out there that are obese. I believe that it is really not the child's vault because the parents do the grocery shopping. The children don't really have a say in what they buy. In today society many families are on the go so eating out is what they do on a regular basis. I also think that parents can make the choice to let their children sit in front of the TV or make them go outside and play. It's important that parents are on the right track to help their children live longer. In your advocacy plan it is important that they learn how to maintain a healthy meals.
Thanks,
Teresa Smith