Needs Assessment for Healthy Children, Healthy Future

By Katrina R Williams

Target Population & Major Health Issue

The target population is youth from two to twelve years of age,

both female and male participants, located in Eugene, Oregon. The

major health issue at hand is the rise in obesity and overweight

children in this location. As of 2000 children aged two to four years old

were at an obesity rate of 14.7%, this number increased to as high as

15.9% and as of 2014 this number was at 15%.

(http://stateofobesity.org/states/or/) Although this does not seem like a

huge increase and we did increase and decrease in percentage, we are

still higher than we were, meaning that more children are becoming

obese.

Purpose & Scope

The goal of this needs assessment is to identify the major

qualifying factors leading to childhood obesity. I hope to acquire

information about the physical activity of the children; how long are

they active per day, what types of physical activity, are the parents

involved in the physical activity? As well as acquire information about

the childrens diets; what they eat, how often, how many servings of

fruits and vegetables, do the children cook with the parents? We see

that obesity is the problem, but physical activity as well as nutrition

may be a factor leading too, or adding to obesity. I will also look into

how society affects obesity. I hope to identify how much TV the children

watch, what they are watching, what they are reading, and what is

being produced as a healthy body type in their schools and/or

daycares. In order to conduct this needs assessment I will need to look

at local and state information that is submitted. I will also research to

see if any surveys have been answered in regards to these questions,

these surveys may very well likely come from schools themselves. The

other possibility is to conduct a survey myself. I will contact the

company I am working with and ask them if they could ask the parents

(or children if old enough) to fill out the information and return it. No

identifying factors of the children besides age and sex will be asked.

Primary & Secondary Data

The secondary data I have gathered and continue to gather is

coming from State of Obesity.com searching in the Oregon section. The

primary data I am gathering is coming from a survey that was handed

out to participants at the local KinderCare facility. I approached the

director and she was more than happy to help me and ask families to

fill it out and return to her. This survey was not mandatory, but we

received some great feedback from the parents. Please see attached

paper for the survey that was handed out.

Analyzing Data
As of this point I do not have all of my primary data back, based on

what I do have back so far (about 65% of surveys) I have found that

over 50% of children are spending 3 to 4 hours per day watching

television shows. I have also found that about 40% of surveys received

back so far have stated that nutrition and physical activity is the most

important health concern. I also had about five of the surveys

specifically state that they have a hard time getting their children to

eat vegetables, but fruit was not an issue. One mother said that she

could not figure out how to get her child to put down his video game

and go outside and play without it leading to a major fight in her home.

(KinderCare Survey) The secondary data findings back up my

statement that we need to find a reason behind obesity and stop it.

Currently children aged 2 to 4 year olds are at a rate of 15% obesity,

10 to 17 year olds are at a rate of 9.9%.

(http://stateofobesity.org/states/or/) 70% of the population is

Caucasian, 20% is Hispanic and 10% is Black. Obesity is not just a

problem in the United States, around the world obesity continues to

rise. As of 2014 41 million children under the age of 5 years old were

overweight or obese. (www.who.int) Looking at adults we can see the

reason that our children are obese and becoming more obese as time

passes. In the United States 68.8 percent of adults are considered to

be overweight or obese and more than 1 in 20 or 6.3 percent have

extreme obesity. Overweight and/or obesity affect 78.8 percent of

Hispanics, 76.7 percent of Blacks, and 66.7 percent of whites.

(www.niddk.nih.gov) We as adults need to be able to lead by example

and provide reason and stop this growing rate of obesity in our

children.

Risk Factors of Obesity

One of the predisposing factors of obesity is family history and/or

genetics. If you have a family that is overweight or has been

overweight for many generations, or a family history of slow

metabolism then you are more likely to be at risk for obesity. One

enabling factor of obesity is peer pressure. If you go out with friends

and they are constantly pressuring you to have a drink or eat

unhealthy food then they are enabling you to become obese or stay

obese. A reinforcing factor of obesity is the satisfaction of eating that

juicy cheeseburger that youve been craving all day.

Program Focus

The goal of this program is to help children learn to eat the

correct amounts of fruits and vegetables per day at a young age. It is

also a goal to assist children in swapping out poor snack choices

(processed foods) for fresh fruits or vegetables, or healthier

alternatives to their favorite packaged snacks.

References

KinderCare. Health Survey. February 16, 2017

Obesityandoverweight.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary28,2017,from

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

OverweightandObesityStatistics.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary30,2017,from

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/healthinformation/healthstatistics/Pages/overweight

obesitystatistics.aspx

Oregon.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary30,2017,fromhttp://stateofobesity.org/states/or/
 Age of Child: _______
Sex of Child: _______

Please do not include your childs name anywhere on this survey. This
survey is optional and not a requirement for KinderCare. Please answer
or ask your children to answer honestly. Thank you for your
participation in my Research Study.

Physical Activity:
1. How long is your child active per day?
a. 1 hour or less
b. 1-2 hours
c. 2-3 hours
d. 3 or more hours
2. When is your child most active
a. At school
b. At Home
3. Are you (the parent) physically active with your child? (If yes,
please list what you do together)
a. Yes
b. No
4. What is the main type of activity your child does?
a. Sports
b. Playing outside
c. Other (please explain):

Eating and Nutrition

1. How many servings of fruits and vegetables does your child eat
per day?
a. 1 or less
b. 1-2
c. 2-3
d. 4 or more
2. How often does your child eat (please include snacks)?
a. Once a day
b. Two to three times a day
c. Four to five times a day
d. More than five times a day
3. Does your child help you cook meals?
a. Yes
b. No
4. Does your child eat more canned/processed food than fresh
foods?
a. Yes
b. No
Pass-time
1. Which of the following does your child do the most?
a. Watch TV
b. Play video games
c. Play outside
d. Play Sports
2. How many hours per day does your child watch TV/play video
games?
a. Less than 1 hour
b. 1-2 hours
c. 2-3 hours
d. 4 or more hours
3. Does your child read books?
a. Yes
b. No
4. If your child watches TV, please list what your child watches most
frequently:

5. Are there a lot of commercials on the station your child watches

for fast food and/or unhealthy snacks? If so, do you think this
influences your childs want for unhealthy foods?

6. Please have your child explain what a healthy body looks like
and/or feels like:

7. What do you consider the most important health issue for youth
less than 12 years of age?

Again I would like to thank you for your participation in this study.