Childhood obesity: value proposition pitch
| Subject: | 🍏 Nutrition |
| Type: | Problem Solution Essay |
| Pages: | 8 |
| Word count: | 1725 |
| Topics: | Childhood Obesity, Discrimination, Fast Food, Parenting, 🍩 Obesity |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Obesity among young children has become an epidemic in Australia (Gill 2009, p.146). Statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that one in every five children is obese. Since the treatment of obese in children is extremely expensive, the local government taking measures to educate parents and children on nutrition will enable the children to learn at an early stage how to eat right. As the children grow up, they understand the importance of good nutrition and prevent obesity through proper diet.
Young children suffering from obesity are at a risk of developing various physical, emotional and psychological issues. Some of the problems faced by obese children include diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, depression, low self-esteem, and diabetes. Due to low self-esteem and lack of confidence, obese children perform poorly in school and have under-developed skills and may eventually drop out.
This report seeks to offer a solution to the problem of childhood obesity as requested by the local government. Since cases of obesity are on the rise, many children are subjected to stigmatization, and the cost of treating them is overwhelming. Providing nutrition education to the children as well as their parents will empower them with the knowledge they require to avoid cases of obesity (Bell 2008, p.328). The plan involves teaching them about diet and exercising and how they can use them to prevent childhood obesity.
By partnering with an enterprise that offers nutrition education and forms of exercise, the local government can involve the whole community and educate them about the best ways of preventing childhood obesity. Holding workshops in schools and community centers and inviting all individuals will empower all (Brennan 2011, p.16). The enterprise will teach those in attendance how to eat well-balanced diets and the best activities for children. It will help the children to grow up healthy to be healthy individuals.
After implementation of the report, there will be a significant drop in the children developing obesity, and issues of school dropouts in Australia due to obesity will cease. Also, the community will be aware of the best methods to use in the prevention of childhood obesity.
Customer Profile
Customer Job
In the case of childhood obesity, there are three major customers including the local government, children suffering from obesity, and the community which bears the burden of taking care of obese children.
The health department in the local government spends a significant amount of its budget on the treatment of children suffering from conditions related to obesity. In a study published in the Australia and New Zealand of Public Health, the cost of treating childhood obesity stands at seventeen million dollars per year. In addition, stigmatization of obese children is also a problem as mentioned above and it escalates the issue. Therefore, there is a need to provide nutrition, activity and economic solutions to the local government so that it can combat childhood obesity through prevention.
Children suffering from obesity come from communities of low-income earners. The socioeconomic status of their parents forces them to eat unhealthy diets. Hence, the communities where these children live should be targeted for education about the best nutrition and activities for children. They can also be taught how to manage their little income and acquire a better diet for their children.
Young children do not have any idea how the unhealthy food they eat affects their health. Since they do not have an alternative to the food their parents provide, they consume anything put before them and also fail to engage in physical activities. Therefore, young children and those suffering from obesity are in need of proper education and guidance into a healthy lifestyle.
Pains
Major pains for the local government is the amount of money it spends on the treatment of obese children and the lack of development because youth drop out of school or stay inactive.
The pain for the children is the health conditions they have to endure because of their weight. Also, they face challenges including low self-esteem due to stigmatization, which leads to depression.
The major pain for the community is the lack of development as the youth it depends on suffers from obesity-related diseases instead of working.
Gains
The major gain children will get is the avoidance of obesity and those already with the condition will experience improved health.
The local government will also gain because cases of obesity will reduce and it can channel the money used for obesity treatment to development matters.
The community will gain because children will be healthy and the youth will be able to perform development activities.
The other gain will be to the health sector as obesity-related conditions will reduce and the quality of life improved.
Solution
The solution to the persistent problem of childhood obesity is to organize workshops in communities within the region. The workshop facilitators will educate the young children and other members of society about the importance of proper nutrition and create awareness about obesity in children. The same solution can be extended to other areas of Australia.
To start the workshops information will be gathered from similar projects around Australia. Data from community-based programs that seek to champion the reduction of obesity will assist in determining what is required for the workshops to begin.
Examining the possibility of success of the project and partnering with other enterprises such as MasterChef Australia and health facilities in educating the community (Phillipov 2013, p.506). The partnership will help because MasterChef Australia understands how to communicate with people on matters of food.
Since the solution is innovative, it will help to reduce the number of children suffering from obesity. Starting early education about obesity will stop consumption of unhealthy food and promote physical activities.
Value Proposition Pitch
The proposed service of educating the community about obesity through workshops is free and will be held in community centers and other places where different types of people meet such as churches (Nichols 2013, p.111). The reason for tackling childhood obesity is because it is a disease that endangers life and individuals are either not aware of it or do not know how to combat it.
Researching the internet and reading about obesity in Australia the realization that childhood obesity is a huge problem across the globe led to the decision to fight obesity. Also, watching food programs and listening to critics who claim that these programs promote unhealthy eating brought the idea of partnering with MasterChef Australia to reduce cases of developing obesity (Phillipov 2013, p.506).
Gain Creators
The acquisition of proper knowledge by children and their parents about obesity including its causes and how to prevent it will reduce the development of childhood obesity through prevention. Evidence from several studies about obesity proves that eating healthy meals and exercising regularly is the best way to prevent obesity. As a result, the community-based programs will achieve their aim of having an obesity-free community through prevention.
Also, children participating in normal activities and going to school without stigma due to their weight will be another gain creator. In addition, the local government will not need to spend millions of dollars on the treatment of obesity and the health department will have fewer obesity patients to handle. In turn, they will be able to focus on treating other unpreventable diseases.
Pain Relievers
The main pain reliever for the children will be the fact that they can go to school or play around the community without being discriminated against. In addition, they will lead healthy lives and reduce the risk of developing weight-related diseases.
Another pain reliever will be to the community since they will have the knowledge of proper nutrition and the right activities to engage the children.
The third pain reliever is for the local government because it will spend less money on the treatment of childhood obesity and the number of children suffering from obesity will reduce.
Conclusion
In summary, we propose the organization of workshops with nutritionists and healthy professionals as facilitators. The targeted populace will be communities with low-income earners whose children suffer from obesity due to lack of proper nutrition. The workshops will provide the necessary knowledge about obesity, its causes and the best means of preventing the condition.
The funding of the program will be done by the local government and the local health facilities, and MasterChef Australia can offer free advice on nutrition and other activities for the children.
Also, after using the program for five months, we will collect feedback from the community and data on the number of obese children who have recovered and the reduction of new development (Ogden 2010, p.243). The data will be used in designing better methods of preventing childhood obesity in the region and eventually in Australia.
The program will be able to demonstrate to the community that obesity is a manageable condition and children can grow up healthy with the right body mass index. We will also teach the children that there is no need to discriminate against others due to increased weight because obesity is a disease like any other.
- Bell, A.C., Simmons, A., Sanigorski, A.M., Kremer, P.J. and Swinburn, B.A., 2008. Preventing childhood obesity: the sentinel site for obesity prevention in Victoria, Australia. Health Promotion International, 23(4), pp.328-336.
- Brennan, L., 2011. Empowering parents to tackle children’s obesity: [Paper in special issue: The Psychology of Eating Disturbances.]. InPsych: The Bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society Ltd, 33(4), p.16.
- Gill, T.P., Baur, L.A., Bauman, A.E., Steinbeck, K.S., Storlien, L.H., Fiatarone Singh, M.A., Brand-Miller, J.C., Colagiuri, S. and Caterson, I.D., 2009. Childhood obesity in Australia remains a widespread health concern that warrants population-wide prevention programs. Medical Journal of Australia, 190(3), p.146.
- Nichols, M.S., Reynolds, R.C., Waters, E., Gill, T., King, L., Swinburn, B.A. and Allender, S., Community-based efforts to prevent obesity: Australia-wide survey of projects. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 24(2), pp.111-117.
- Ogden, C., Carroll, M.D., Curtin, L.R., Lamb, M.M. and Flegal, K.M., 2010. About childhood obesity. JAMA, 303(3), pp.242-249.
- Phillipov, M., 2013. Mastering obesity: MasterChef Australia and the resistance to public health nutrition. Media, Culture & Society, 35(4), pp.506-515.
Offered for reference purposes only.