Foundation Programming Overview
Project Overview:
The National Childhood Obesity Foundation®
(
®)
has devised a proactive out-reach foundation to address the national obesity
crisis with a two-phased ecologically and scientifically based approach that
targets both communities and individuals on a national basis {national
meaning the inclusion of North America, Europe, and Asia} with a set of
nutrition and physical activity health care education empowerment
intervention programs. Such interventions when introduced and reinforced
with some frequency to the pre-K and K-6 audiences and their gatekeepers
{gatekeepers meaning parents/grandparents/teachers/health
professionals/other care-takers} will induce healthier eating and physical
activity habits which in-turn will reduce the need or frequency for
expensive healthcare medicines (development of type-2 diabetes, certain
cancers, heart-disease, stroke, sleep apnea, chronic diseases, etc.),
surgery or worse early mortality.
The term "ecological" herein means the multiple levels of environmental
factors that influence health behavior choices of the pre-K and K-6 audience,
and how this conceptual application is woven into our experiential health education
programs outlined below. 's® educational
empowerment intervention programs are specifically designed to target vulnerable
groups, i.e., children, teens, and their gatekeepers, that are most susceptible
to these environmental factors contributing to their obesity and/or being overweight.
Brief Problem Statement: Childhood obesity has mushroomed to fifteen percent of children and teens between the ages of six and nineteen, and even ten percent of those between the ages of two and five. Among U.S. adults (gatekeepers/parents), obesity has ballooned exponentially from forty-six percent to sixty-four percent of the population between 1980 and 2000. The debilitating effects of obesity are wide ranging and their onset begins early in life. Juvenile diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have been rising steadily since 1980. Some of the debilitating effects of obesity for our youth range from type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, several forms of cancer, and sleep apnea to many other related chronic diseases. These debilitating and chronic health effects from obesity have become the second leading cause of death among adults in the U.S. behind cancer. Based on current projections these debilitating and chronic health effects will become the leading cause of death in the U.S. if left unchecked within twelve years. Obesity, outside of specific genetic issues, is very manageable and in a majority of cases preventable. In fact, obesity will surpass smoking as the number one preventable disease in the U.S. in the very near future. Many of these health behavior obesity issues are environmental in nature, and can be a combination of life-style, cultural, emotional (mental health care, self-image and eating disorders), economic, and geographic factors.
®
means: "Pan-American Obesity Walk for Education and Research®"
SM means: "Teaching
Health in Nutrition and KinesiologySM"
Programming Overview:
's® proposed project as briefly outlined herein, addresses the national obesity epidemic with the introduction of an ecological knowledge based health behavior empowerment alternatives presented continually and annually through its targeted educational intervention programs for pre-K and K-6 audiences and their gatekeepers (parents/guardians). The term "empowerment" as used in describing 's® programs is to unleash the powerful use of the positive concept of "self-image" and "self determination" in the nutritional and exercise choices made by individuals, families, and communities. These health care ecologically and scientifically based empowerment programs are conceptually
designed for 's® targeted audiences. These targeted audiences include local schools, communities, family, and individuals where the application of these "empowerment" programs would have the greatest affect in achieving the intended purpose of raising their health care knowledge and awareness in the importance of daily proper nutrition and physical activity.
Phases One & Two: To adequately address the complex issues surrounding the nutritional and physical activity decision-making process of young children, teens, and their gatekeepers (expecting parents, parents,
grandparents, teachers, and day-care providers), ® has devised and strategically divided into six targeted areas and two phases a proactive health care education program.
Phase One incorporates an incubator and national grass-roots ecologically and scientifically based nutrition and kinesiology education empowerment intervention approach: the ® Health Care Education Event Tour; the ® Health Educational Website Program (SM Health Curriculum); and the ® Health Education Internship Program. The purpose of these Phase One interlinking triad of programs is to maintain a constant, consistent, and focused health care intervention message and information stream to the most vulnerable groups afflicted by this national obesity crisis. The reach of these Phase One programs into the intended targeted audiences will be aided by the introduction of Alisha the Active® and Henry the Healthy® Sharks as animated characters and ® advocates for healthier lifestyles for children. However, the true success of Phase One will depend on how well these empowerment intervention programs are funded and finely tuned to meet the real test
of reaching these grass roots pre-K and K-6 audiences and their gatekeepers.
Phase Two incorporates an even broader ecologically and scientifically based national health care empowerment message approach: the ® Health Care Education Communications Program; the
® Future Health Care Scholarship Program; and the ® Obesity Research Grant. Furthermore, Phase Two represents a concerted effort by ® to address pre-K and K-6 obesity and overweight issues with the mainstream media, the food processing
industry, academic and health care research institutions, and government policy-makers. All six ® ® health care empowerment programs are intended to be direct proactive ecological behavior modification education programs advocating healthy life-styles through various enlightened nutritional and physical activity awareness experiential methodologies.
Linkages between 's® ® Programming and the Problem:
's® ® ecologically and scientifically based health care education model empowerment intervention programs (Phase One and Two aspects: education tour, internship, website, communication, and scholarships) will create a direct and targeted experiential linkage between the very national and local community audiences that the obesity crisis is currently afflicting. To further solidify these two Phases is imbedded an animated characters named Alisha the Active® and Henry the Healthy® Sharks. These selected 's® health message delivery mechanisms for both Phase One and Two are well established and time tested vehicles for reaching the intended target audiences. 's® message of proper nutrition and physical activity as a positive daily routine for long-term health (through the ecological health care behavior modification empowerment aspects of 's® triad of Phase One and Two programs) are central to the Foundation's mission and vision.
Equally essential to establishing well-grounded message delivery vehicles is the creation of current and pertinent substantive content within that health message. To meet this challenge of creating an ecological and scientific linkage between the problem and the target audiences, ® has developed and will continue to develop a nationally and internationally recognized professional Advisory Board. The Advisory Board consists of both working affiliations and relationships with nationally and internationally recognized professionals from medicine, psychology, nutrition and human anatomy research, kinesiology, education, children's media, business, and governmental agencies. Current Advisory Board member university affiliations include: Harvard
University; Boston College; Cornell University; Duke University; Georgetown
University; Johns Hopkins University, Tulane University; University of California at Los Angeles;
Northwestern University; University of Virginia; University of Tennessee;
University of Pittsburgh; University of Miami; University of Arizona;
Colorado University; Baylor University; Oregon State University; Louisiana
State University; Trinity College {IRE}; University of Bristol {UK};
Imperial College of Medicine {UK}; University of Liverpool {UK};
McGill University {Canada};
and the
University of Western Ontario {Canada}.
Please visit this page to read what our Advisory Board
members are saying about the planned ® ® Programming and SM Curriculum.
Non-university member affiliations include: the Center for Disease Control; the Department of Education; the National Education Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children; the National Catholic Educational Association; National Head Start Program; Bright Horizons; KinderCare; the Boys & Girls Club of America; Girl Scouts of the USA; MGH;
Channel One in the Classroom children's and teen media; and other related nationally and internationally recognized and professional health and education organizations. These highly regarded affiliations and relationships are to ensure that the Foundation's scientifically and ecologically based ® health education programs and
SM curriculums are in concert with the current thinking from the latest research by these organizations. Furthermore, it is the Foundation's mission and vision to educate, energize, and capture the attention of the intended target pre-K and K-6 audiences and their gatekeepers with current, well-grounded, and pertinent nutrition and physical activity information.
