Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
Childhood obesity
Walden University
Courtney Pribonic
12/21/2017
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CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Introduction
Childhood obesity is one of the Non-communicable diseases that the United Nations
and the World Health Organization decided to prevent and control, using their Global
Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health. The foundation of the program is to identify a
population at risk and generate preventing plans. (World Health Organization, 2010)
In America, the prevalence of childhood obesity has incremented. The prevalence of
childhood obesity has grown over three times since 1980. Now over 33% of the children
between 2 and 18 years old are overweight or obese. The data indicates that 36% of AfricanAmerican children and 38% of Latino descent children are affected, the same happens with
28% of children aged 2-5 years and 45% of kids from families with socio-economic issues.
But there are other data to take into account: 63% of high school students don´t meet the
physical activity minimum requirements, only 22% eat the suggested quantity of fruit and
vegetables, 14.5% drink the adequate amount of milk and 1/3 watch a minimum of 3 daily
hours of television. Each one of these habits can have a negative influence on the health of
children. (Saxe, 2011)
Facing the numbers, and the concern of the World Health Organization, we need to
generate policies that will help to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity. The importance
of the prevention lies in the comorbidity of childhood obesity. Fighting obesity, we can avoid
the early start of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and Coronary
disease among others. Prevention not only generates a general improvement in the wellbeing
of the nation, but it creates enormous savings because it ends with the necessity of funding
the infrastructure to treat all that diseases.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Advocacy articles
Among all the items advocating the prevention of childhood obesity, “Promoting
Healthy Lifestyles and Decreasing Childhood Obesity: Increasing Physician Effectiveness
Through Advocacy” by “Jessica Schorr Saxe and Advocating for the Prevention of Childhood
Obesity: A Call to Action for Nursing” by Bobbie Berkowitz and Marleyse Borchard were
selected to analyze the outcomes of the supported policies. The framework created by the
United Nations to implement their Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
helps to understand the steps needed to apply the different policies and obtain the expected
outcome.
Figure 1 (World Health Organization, 2010)
CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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In the hands of the Physicians
Children
with weight
problems live at
constant risk of
complications and
premature death.
Doctors are who
assess children
annually,
evaluating their weight
Figure 2 (“Health Impact Assessments,” n.d.)
status and Body Mass Index, dietary patterns and physical activity and sedentary habits. The
role of the doctor is to determine the health condition of all kids and then provide the proper
estimation, provide therapy, treatment, and guidelines to overweight and obese children.
The situation has changed, children have more sedentary habits than past generations
and technology is not helping. In the same period, while healthy activities that need the
individual´s concern, such as using condoms and restraints in consuming alcohol among
adolescents and the decrease of smoking adults, childhood obesity has increased
significantly. Public education about nutrition and physical activity are not enough. Clinical
interventions, the usual method physicians use in their practice, don´t have the expected
outcomes. In this case, physicians need to engage in community programs and advocacy.
“As physicians, we speak with authority, and our opinions respected in the
community. We can advocate for a variety of points. We can encourage improved nutrition
and physical activity in individual schools and in child care settings, especially those that our
children or patients attend. We can support policies that increase quality physical education
CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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and physical activity in schools at a local level through discussions with the school board or
school system staff or by serving on School Health Advisory Councils”(Saxe, 2011)
According to this article, the active engagement of physicians in the advocacy and
support of community efforts to decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity. Although time
is always a barrier to start new activities, the old ones related to community´s development
can be used to increase the health of the population.
Nurses Advocacy
What can nurses do to prevent and decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity is
the central question of the article. Nurses as health care professionals, need to acquire skills
including advocacy, collective guidance, and social media promotion abilities, to contribute
to the prevention of children´s obesity.
There are several factors that contribute to children´s obesity, and among them, race
and ethnicity, parental understanding and dietetic practices, and background effects are the
most important. Nurses can help to change some of the factors, assisting the parents to know
how to engage children in physical activity or changing eating habits, promoting the creation
of safe zones to walk and ride bicycles in parks and other green areas. Hence, helping
families with weight issues to engage in prevention activities, encouraging physical activity,
and helping parents to make healthy dietary choices, and helping children to find the energy
balance.
These activities are directly related to the nurses´ advocacy skills. Family-based
interventions are the most successful, and the nurses´ involvements in family prevention
strategies, early interventions to prevent the onset of non-healthy dietary patterns, and the
engagement of the community support are the key for the achievement of the goal: decrease
the prevalence of children´s obesity.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Development of a new plan
This advocacy plan aims to sensitize people to the issue of childhood obesity and
obesity-related illness. It has two goals; the first is related to the dietary habits. Subsequently,
this achieved if the City Council passed a bill promoting the healthy meals at school, banning
the vending machines that provide high sugar/ high carbohydrates snacks and drinks, and
generating programs to aid low-income families to provide their children with the right
amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. The other goal is to create places where children can
engage in physical activity, like running, playing physical games, such as hide and seek, ride
bicycles. The community needs to create and preserve such spaces.
Beneficial to achieve both goals, the program needs the support of the community.
Social Media marketing is meant to achieve the goals because it can reach the community
and create awareness about the seriousness of the issue and support different programs.
Respectively, to help overweight and obese children and to prevent the early onset of nonhealthy dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle in children, while encouraging their parents to
seek medical help and counseling.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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References
Advocating for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity: A Call to Action for Nursing. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 20, 2017, from
http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Tabl
eofContents/Vol142009/No1Jan09/Prevention-of-Childhood-Obesity.html
Health Impact Assessments. (n.d.). Retrieved December 21, 2017, from

Saxe, J. S. (2011). Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Decreasing Childhood Obesity: Increasing
Physician Effectiveness Through Advocacy. Annals of Family Medicine, 9(6), 546–548.
https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1263
World Health Organization. (2010). Population-based approaches to CHILDHOOD OBESITY
PREVENTION.
can
Running head: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
1
Developing an Advocacy Campaign: Childhood obesity
Walden University
Courtney Pribonic
1/13/2018
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Introduction
Obesity occurs when an individual’s body mass is higher than 30. Obesity is rated as
one of the highest health issues in the United States. There has also been an increase in the
obesity-related deaths, with at least half of the deaths in the United States being associated
with obesity. Among the complications related to obesity includes hypertension, heart
diseases, stroke and certain kind of cancer. This is in addition to other secondary
complications such as the respiratory problems, gall bladder disorders as well as the sleep
neap. Further obesity has been associated with the mood disorders, low self-esteem and in
some cases depression (Karnik & Kanekar, 2014).
In some other areas, obesity has been associated with the negative effect on the
economy of the United States. Obesity comes along with discrimination in the places of work
and the low productivity of the obese employees. The income generated in this case drops
and in some other cases, the cost of treating obesity-related cases is high which has negative
implications for the economy (Berkowitz & Borchard, 2009). In this regard, there is the need
to evaluate the appropriateness of the proposed policy given the existing laws and regulations
to address the issue of obesity. Recommendations on the legislative interventions need to be
made given the gaps which may exist to deal conclusively with an obesity problem.
Enacting the Proposed policy
The proposed advocacy starts at the school level. A good number of obese children
become obese even in their adulthood. A modification of the existing regulations can help to
implement this proposal. First, the regulations should be modified to ensure that the food
served in schools contains little calories and a healthy mix of vitamins, proteins, and
carbohydrates. The current regulations should be modified to ensure that lessons on healthy
eating are incorporated into the curriculum. The physical activities should be implemented in
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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the curriculum to ensure enough burn of calories for the children. The sensitization of healthy
eating to children at a tender age will implant the practice in them (Hodge et al…, 2013).
The proposed policy can be enacted through the modification of the existing
regulations to ensure that the parents are trained during school meetings on the best way to
take care of their children and the healthy eating habits. The incorporations of free lessons on
healthy eating and how to take care of the children of tender age to parents will reduce the
risk of poor diet which increases the chances of obesity. There should a nurse under the
modified regulations and a curriculum in schools to train parents during their meetings on
how to prepare healthy dishes for their children (Karnik & Kanekar, 2014)
Figure 1: Shows the trend of obesity among children from 1963-2008 (Sameera Karnik,
2012).
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Figure 1 above indicates how obesity among the children has been increasing day by
thus, if the issue is not dealt with it might be impossible to fix in the near future. Therefore,
the existing laws should be modified to incorporate campaigns against childhood obesity. The
campaign should include healthy choices, access to affordable healthy foods, physical
activities and healthy schools. Given that these items are in the intended campaign, the
initiative would be reinforced with the modification of the existing rules (Hodge et al…,
2013).
How the existing laws/regulations affect the advocacy efforts
One of the laws that could affect the advocacy efforts is the Affordable Care Act. The
act lays the foundation of the federal governments to contributes funds for the child obesity
program (Berkowitz & Borchard, 2009). The law targets the programs that are aimed at
reducing child obesity through the grant proposals. It also provides the fundamental
guidelines to the healthcare providers on the ways to prevent and manage childhood obesity
through the provision of obesity-related services. The act mandates state to create public
awareness of the childhood obesity. This law will affect my advocacy effort in the way that I
will have to work with the federal governments to get the funds for the campaign as provided
for under the Act.
Analysis of the methods used to influence legislators
The best way to influence the legislators for the child-friendly initiative is to speak up
against obesity (Hodge et al…, 2013). Once it is decided for the child-friendly initiative
against obesity, the schools, nurses, and hospitals should lobby the Congress to come up with
laws to support campaign and initiatives against obesity. Parents and teachers should not be
ashamed to talk to the children about obesity.
“Three legs” of lobbying in advocacy efforts
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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For the lobbying to be effective and efficient, it is important to understand the “three
legs” of lobbying. The first leg of lobbying to use is the professional lobbying (McGrath,
2002). To make the campaign against obesity effective, there is need to speak up. This calls
for intense calling, emailing and writing to the professional bodies such as the nurses
association on the need obesity programs. The second leg is the grass root lobbying. The
involvement of experts and the people in the know about obesity, they are an asset in
lobbying the legislators. Nurses and teachers are experts, and they need to speak out on
obesity. They also need to teach children and their parents on the best ways to avoid obesity.
The third leg of lobbying is the role played by financial resources. There is need to lobby for
the waiving of taxes for the healthy foods. The activities that reduce obesity should be made
cost effective with no taxes (Berkowitz & Borchard, 2009).
Anticipated Obstacles to overcome
The key obstacles which are likely to face the initiative is ignorance on the benefits of
healthy lifestyle and the legal challenges. The laws and regulations in place are not likely to
be effective in the implementation of the intended policy. There is the likely obstacle of lack
of support from the professional bodies.
To avoid obstacles in the campaign against obesity, there are several issues which
need to be resolved (McGrath, 2002). Although there are laws that support the campaign
against obesity, more needs to be done. There is need to promote a healthy lifestyle and
reduce childhood obesity. The current laws need to be modified to enhance their support for
the campaign against obesity. Creating awareness on the issue through the media would help
to overcome the obstacles of healthy eating. Teachers and nurses need to speak out to their
professional bodies and the legislators.
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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Conclusion
Obesity especially childhood obesity is a complex issue which requires a strategic
approach as it touches on various disciples such as health and economics. The approach to
prevent and reduce obesity needs to consider the causes and the results of this major health
problem. For the campaign against childhood obesity to be effective, there is need to
moderate the existing laws or regulations as well as the prevention policies. Well, coordinate
efforts will ensure the success of the advocacy campaign against obesity.
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
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References
Berkowitz, B., & Borchard, M. (2009). Advocating for the prevention of childhood obesity:
A call to action for nursing. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(1), 17.
Hodge Jr, J. G., Orenstein, D. G., Corbett, A., & Barraza, L. (2013). New frontiers in obesity
control: Innovative public health legal interventions. Duke FL & Soc. Change, 5, 1.
Karnik, S., & Kanekar, A. (2014). A narrative review of public health policies for childhood
obesity prevention in the United States. Journal of Local and Global Health Science,
4.
McGrath, C. (2002). Comparative Lobbying Practices: Washington, London,
Brussels. University of Ulster.
Sameera Karnik, A. (2012). Childhood Obesity: A Global Public Health Crisis. PubMed
Central (PMC). Retrieved 13 January 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278864/figure/F1/
Name: NURS_5050_Week_10_Discussion_Rubric
EXIT
Grid View
List View
Outstanding Performance
Excellent Performance Competent Performance
Proficient Performance Room for Improvement
Main Posting:
Response to the discussion question is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis representative of
knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources.
44 (44%) – 44 (44%)
Thoroughly responds to the discussion question(s)
is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis representative of knowledge gained from the course
readings for the module and current credible sources.
supported by at least 3 current, credible sources
40 (40%) – 43 (43%)
Responds to the discussion question(s)
is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis representative of knowledge gained from the course
readings for the module.
75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth
supported by at least 3 credible references
35 (35%) – 39 (39%)
Responds to most of the discussion question(s)
is somewhat reflective with critical analysis and synthesis representative of knowledge gained from the
course readings for the module.
50% of post has exceptional depth and breadth
supported by at least 3 credible references
31 (31%) – 34 (34%)
Responds to some of the discussion question(s)
one to two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed
is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis
somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.
post is cited with fewer than 2 credible references
0 (0%) – 30 (30%)
Does not respond to the discussion question(s)
lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria
lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis
does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.
contains only 1 or no credible references
Main Posting:
Writing
6 (6%) – 6 (6%)
Written clearly and concisely
Contains no grammatical or spelling errors
Fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style
5.5 (5.5%) – 5.5 (5.5%)
Written clearly and concisely
May contain one or no grammatical or spelling error
Adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Written concisely
May contain one to two grammatical or spelling error
Adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style
4.5 (4.5%) – 4.5 (4.5%)
Written somewhat concisely
May contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors
Contains some APA formatting errors
0 (0%) – 4 (4%)
Not written clearly or concisely
Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors
Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style
Main Posting:
Timely and full participation
10 (10%) – 10 (10%)
Meets requirements for timely and full participation
posts main discussion by due date
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirement for full participation
First Response:
Post to colleague’s main post that is reflective and justified with credible sources.
9 (9%) – 9 (9%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings
responds to questions posed by faculty
the use of scholarly sources to support ideas demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning
objectives
8.5 (8.5%) – 8.5 (8.5%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings
7.5 (7.5%) – 8 (8%)
Response has some depth and may exhibit critical thinking or application to practice setting
6.5 (6.5%) – 7 (7%)
Response is on topic, may have some depth
0 (0%) – 6 (6%)
Response may not be on topic, lacks depth
First Response:
Writing
6 (6%) – 6 (6%)
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are fully answered if posed
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources
Response is effectively written in Standard Edited English
5.5 (5.5%) – 5.5 (5.5%)
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are answered if posed
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources
Response is effectively written in Standard Edited English
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Communication is mostly professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are mostly answered if posed
Provides opinions and ideas that are supported by few credible sources
Response is written in Standard Edited English
4.5 (4.5%) – 4.5 (4.5%)
Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication
Response to faculty questions are somewhat answered if posed
Few or no credible sources are cited
0 (0%) – 4 (4%)
Responses posted in the discussion lack effective
Response to faculty questions are missing
No credible sources are cited
First Response:
Timely and full participation
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Meets requirements for timely and full participation
posts by due date
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirement for full participation
Second Response:
Post to colleague’s main post that is reflective and justified with credible sources.
9 (9%) – 9 (9%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings * responds to questions posed by
faculty
the use of scholarly sources to support ideas demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning
objectives
8.5 (8.5%) – 8.5 (8.5%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings
7.5 (7.5%) – 8 (8%)
Response has some depth and may exhibit critical thinking or application to practice setting
6.5 (6.5%) – 7 (7%)
Response is on topic, may have some depth
0 (0%) – 6 (6%)
Response may not be on topic, lacks depth
Second Response:
Writing
6 (6%) – 6 (6%)
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are fully answered if posed
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources
Response is effectively written in Standard Edited English
5.5 (5.5%) – 5.5 (5.5%)
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are answered if posed
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources
Response is effectively written in Standard Edited English
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Communication is mostly professional and respectful to colleagues
Response to faculty questions are mostly answered if posed
Provides opinions and ideas that are supported by few credible sources
Response is written in Standard Edited English
4.5 (4.5%) – 4.5 (4.5%)
Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication
Response to faculty questions are somewhat answered if posed
Few or no credible sources are cited
0 (0%) – 4 (4%)
Responses posted in the discussion lack effective
Response to faculty questions are missing
No credible sources are cited
Second Response:
Timely and full participation
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Meets requirements for timely and full participation
Posts by due date
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
NA
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirement for full participation
Total Points: 100
Name: NURS_5050_Week_10_Discussion_Rubric

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