How to motivate your community to choose a healthy lifestyle
- Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
- The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period.
- In 2010, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.
- Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors. Obesity is defined as having excess body fat.
- Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.
Childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term effects on health and well-being.
Immediate health effects:
- Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
- Obese adolescents are more likely to have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate a high risk for development of diabetes.
- Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.
Long-term health effects:
- Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults11-14 and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults.
- Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Obesity is a major public health problem in the U.S. While all segments of the population are affected, low-income and food insecure people are especially vulnerable due to the additional risk factors associated with poverty, including limited resources, limited access to healthy and affordable foods, and limited opportunities for physical activity. Even individuals who are highly motivated can have difficulty eating healthy and being active if their environments do not support or allow such behaviors (Institute of Medicine, 2009).
In addition, households with limited resources to buy enough food often try to stretch their food budgets by purchasing cheap, energy-dense foods that are filling – meaning that they try to maximize their calories per dollar in order to stave off hunger. Those who are food insecure may also overeat when food does become available, resulting in chronic ups and downs in food intake that can contribute to weight gain. This is especially a problem for low-income women, who often restrict their food intake to protect their children from hunger. (http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/)
Cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity (disease and illness) and premature mortality (death) worldwide. Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 443,000 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal smoking and victims of “secondhand” exposure to tobacco’s carcinogens. Smoking cost the United States over $193 billion in 2004, including $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in direct health care expenditures, or an average of $4,260 per adult smoker.
How Can We Motivate Others To Change?
The 5 Stages of Change:
Pre-contemplation: Avoidance. Denying a problem behavior or not considering change.
Contemplation: Acknowledging that there is a problem but struggling with ambivalence.
Weighing pros and cons and the benefits and barriers to change.
Preparation/Determination: Taking steps and preparing for change.
Action/Willpower: Making the change and living the new behaviors.
Maintenance: Maintaining the behavior change that is now integrated into the person’s life. An ongoing stage.
“Motivation is multidimensional and not easily assessed. In addition to readiness to change, practitioners should also consider the key factors of “importance” and “self-efficacy.” Importance is determined by what value a person places on making the change. Self-efficacy is the belief or confidence in one’s ability to achieve change.
When individuals think that change is beyond their capabilities, they may not try. People who are high on importance but low on confidence need encouragement that change is possible. They also need specific ideas about how to do it. This approach promotes engagement and allows greater self-efficiency and identifies the person’s greatest needs and goals.” (samhsa.gov)
Why do you think someone may want to change?
Why do you think someone may NOT want to change?
What kinds of things do you think hold people back?
-Discussion about experiences we have had with motivating others.
-Where do we go from here?
-How can we implement these ideas into our lives?
-Where can we make a difference?
Think small: Individual motivating, resources to give others, what can we tell our co-workers, students, friends, relatives?
Think big: How can we change our community?
-Healthy kids, healthy communities- from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
– SPARK- research-based organization that disseminates evidence-based Physical Education, After School, Early Childhood, and Coordinated School Health programs to teachers and recreation leaders serving Pre-K through 12th grade students. http://www.sparkpe.org
Help Families Make Healthy Choices
USE MYPLATE AS A REMINDER FOR YOUR COMMUNITY AND CONGREGATIONAL MEALS:
MyPlate is the new food icon to help us all build a healthy plate at meal times emphasizing fruit, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy food groups. Learn how to make MyPlate your community’s plate by visiting ChooseMyPlate.gov.
HOST NUTRITION EDUCATION CLASSES:
Open up your organization’s kitchen and host kids and their parents for healthy cooking lessons. Visit www.nutrition.gov for recipe ideas and visit ChooseMyPlate.gov to download or order free education materials. Using the MyPlate website, show your community how the new SuperTracker can help people plan and improve their diet and weight management for free.
Create Access to Affordable Food
GROW HEALTHY FOOD FOR YOUR COMMUNITY BY STARTING A GARDEN:
A vegetable garden is a great way to provide healthy, fresh food for those in need and teach children that healthy eating can be fun! Congregations and community organizations often have land available for gardening. Visit the Let’s Move gardening page to learn more and download the Let’s Move Faith and Communities gardening guide to learn about the resources available to help, including USDA’s People’s Garden initiative.
FEED KIDS OVER THE SUMMER:
Help ensure that kids in your community have access to nutritious meals when school is out by hosting the Summer Food Service Program. Your organization can participate as a site and receive free meals to help kids in low-income areas get the food they need to learn, play and grow throughout the summer months.
Encourage Physical Activity
HOST A WEEKLY EXERCISE ACTIVITY FOR YOUR COMMUNITY OR CONGREGATION:
Children need at least 60 minutes of active play every day to maintain a healthy weight. You can help by hosting regular and fun physical activities at your site. Visit the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition for activities and guidance.
Girls on the Run- http://www.girlsontherun.org
Girls on the Run is a transformational physical activity based positive youth development program for girls in 3rd-8th grade. We teach life skills through dynamic, interactive lessons and running games. The program culminates with the girls being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5k running event. The goal of the program is to unleash confidence through accomplishment while establishing a lifetime appreciation of health and fitness.
Take action to stop smoking in your community: http://www.lung.org/get-involved/advocate/lung-action-network/
-Sign up to receive alerts about advocacy events in your area
-Volunteer to host an “asthma walk” or “stair climb” in your area.