Public Health Assignment: Exploring Childcare Facility of Bossley Park High School

Question

Task: Write a public health assignment highlighting the demographic characteristics of the childcare facility along with the etiology and epidemiology of obesity and overweight.

Answer

Introduction
The study examined in public health assignment will highlight the demographic characteristics of the childcare facility along with the etiology and epidemiology of obesity and overweight. This will be followed by selection of the stakeholders and description of the intervention; the outlining of the communication strategy and evaluation framework would also be done in the following sections of public health assignment.

Demographic features of the specific school and surrounding community
Abbotsbury a suburb of Sydney located in New South Wales, Australia. It is situated 39 kilometers west of the Sydney, which is present in the local administration area of the city of Fairfield. Abbotsbury is one of the parts of the Greater Western Sydney region. Most of the parts of this suburb estate were built in the late 1980s plus in early 1990s. The Western border of the Abbotsbury is bordered by Pine trees. This provides confidentiality to the homes backing onto the farmlands.

As per the 2016 census, it is noted here in public health assignment that the number of residents in Abbotsbury were 4,253 .out of this number, 62.7% of the inhabitants were from Australia itself. The other people web born in countries like Iraq (7%) followed by Italy (3.5%), Vietnam (2.7%), Croatia (1.4%) and the Philippines (1.5%). Among all these countries, the common lineages belonged to Italy (18.4%), Australia (12.3%), English (9.3%) followed by Assyrian (6.4%) and Croatia (4.4%). In Abbotsbury, 51.9% of people have their first language as English. In addition to this, the language that is spoken include Italian (6.5%), Arabic (4.5%), Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (7.0%), Vietnamese (3.5%) and Spanish (3.3%).

Apart from this, most of the people belonging to this suburb are Catholic (56%), Eastern Orthodox (6.7%), Anglican (4.7%) and Assyrian Church of the East (4.3%).  In this context, 7% did not believe any religion. As a whole, the most accepted religious group that is found in Abbotsbury is Christianity (Quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au, 2019).

To understand the impact of obesity among children, the study focused in public health assignment selected Bossley Park High School. It is a government-funded coeducational Secondary day School. The school is located in western suburb of Sydney and the catchment area includes developing suburbs of Bossley along with Abbotsbury in Western Sydney. The school was established in 1988 and in the year 2018 it had enrolled 1500 students from year 7 to year 12 (Myschool.edu.au , 2019). Out of this huge number, 82% of the students had a first language other than English. The remaining percentage had their first language as English.  The students coming to Bossley Park High School belong to different ethnicities. Among them, 80% of the students have Spanish, Italian, Cambodian, Assyrian, Vietnamese, Arabic and Chinese dialects (Bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.gov.au, 2019).

The study evolved in public health assignment mentioned that Bossley Park High School is governed by the NSW Department of Education. It follows the curriculum that had been developed by the New South Wales Education Standards Authority.

The school has provided an ambient atmosphere to the students. It is also discussed in this context of public health assignment that the school has developed several facilities such as the library, computer room, staff room and drama room for cultural activities. All these rooms are air-conditioned. The school understands the significance of technology and its impact on the education system. Therefore, it has adapted to the new technologies. This makes the school ahead of other public schools. In addition to this, The School has student Computer System along with interactive whiteboards in few of its classroom (Bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.gov.au.2019). Moreover, the School has also upgraded the food Labs according to the industry standards. This helps the school to provide vocational education as well as training for hospitality courses. The School has also developed concrete Court for the disabled students to play sports like wheelchair rugby.

Etiology and epidemiology of overweight and obesity in the target group
Overweight also obesity is considered to be Lifestyle diseases which is becoming an integral part of childhood. It is a global concern that needs to be dealt with effectuality. According to the definition provided by the World Health Organisation, Obesity is the accumulation of fat abnormally that renders high risk to health (WHO, 2018). The current public health assignment examined the words of Bray et al. (2016) which state that obesity is the result of excessive consumption of calories as compared to the expension rate. Obesity and overweight can be diagnosed with the help of body mass index (BMI). This score is intended by dividing the weight of a person in kilograms by the square of the height of an individual in metre. If the score of BMI is more than or equal to 30 kg/m² then an individual is well-thought-out to be a obese; while a score of 25 or more indicates that a person is overweight.

As per the research conducted for public health assignment, the body mass index is affected by factors such as age, gender as well as ethnicity. Therefore, it cannot be standardised for adults. For children adiposity is considered to be an ideal measure for knowing the state of overweight and obesity.  It is defined as the quantity of subcutaneous fats that are stored in the body. To measure adiposity, the circumference of waist and hip are measured. This is because it is less affected by factors like gender, race and so on (Dumuid et al. (2018).

The etiology associated with overweight also obesity is highly complex. The development of obesity and overweight can be linked with factors searches environment, eating habits, genetics, lifestyle and metabolic.  However, mostly it is idiopathic in nature.in addition to this, overweight and obesity can also be correlated with behavioural risk factors. This may include overconsumption of food that is high in energy but lack nutrition, less physical activity, poor quality of sleep and so on (Kumar & Kelly, 2017).

 A person who suffers from being overweight and obesity at an early age is likely to suffer from the same in the later phase of life. Obesity is associated with the number of complications in adults such as High blood pressure, heart-related diseases and so on. However, it has been less observed in children but in the long run, it may cause morbidity and mortality. Henceforth, it can be stated that overweight and obesity can lead to psychological as well as Physical health effects and may gradually cause chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, asthma, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases and so on. From the perspective of psychosocial as well as behavioural problems, a person may face issues like discrimination, depression, low self-esteem, body shaming and social isolation (Quek et al., 2017).

In Australia, 28% of the children along with adolescents facing issues as they are either overweight or obese (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2019). According to the report obtained from 2014- 2015, it has been identified in this segment of public health assignment that among the children and adolescents belonging to the age group of 5-17, 20% were overweight but not obese, while 8% were obese. Boys and girls belonging to that age group shows a similar proportion of body weight and obesity when combined. It ranged to 28% in boys and 27% in girls. However, when obesity was considered all alone, 7% of boys were found to belong to this category and the girls ranged to 8%.  With respect to the age, the age group of boys who were overweight but not obese belonged to 16 to 17 years, while for the girls, it was found to be 8 to 11 years (Aihw.gov.au., 2017).

Figure 1: Proportion of overweight and obese children
(Source: Aihw.gov.au., 2017)

On the contrary to the age group, overweight and obesity has also been found to be greatly influenced by the socio-economic group. According to the data from 2014 to 2015, it is identified in the public health assignment that 33% of the boys who belong to lower socio-economic group were found to be overweight or obese. On the other hand, 22% of the boys belonging to a higher socioeconomic group were found to be obese or overweight. Similar results were observed in regards to the girls. It is found in the analysis of public health assignment that girls who belonged to lower socio-economic group were more obese than that of the ones who belonged to higher group.

Justification of stakeholder group selection
Overweight and obesity has become a major problem in Australia. This problem can be encountered with the help of a multifaceted community-wide approach. Therefore, it is essential that to actively eliminate or decrease the rate of obesity and overweight in Australia diverse stakeholders must be identified and engaged. In this regard, the study analysed in the public health assignment illustrates that Healthcare departments, governing bodies, educational systems (Teachers, principal, school nurse), social workers and parents are the important stakeholders who can play a vital role in successfully implementing the programmes that will help in making people aware of the causes of obesity and overweight. It will be very useful to engage the schools as children learn to eat fast foods and other junks from that period of life. Therefore, conveying the information related to obesity and overweight will help them to lead a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, Bossley Park High School was selected for the project. In addition to this, it is also crucial to engage the physical education teacher. This will help the children to receive physical training. One of the major reasons of overweight and obesity is the sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, the public health assignment analysis also signifies that it is crucial to involve the sports club also in the list of the stakeholders.

Description of the intervention
The project related to obesity and overweight “Being Active Eating Well” and “It's your move”. This will help the children of Bossley Park High School to get motivated and lead a healthy life. In this process, the students will not only be encouraged to participate in physical activities but will also be displayed the benefits of healthy eating. Henceforth, throughout the project emphasis will be laid on building healthy policies, creating a conducive and helpful environment, firming community action, developing individual skills along with reorienting health services.

In this entire project of public health assignment, the crucial step is the planning stage. As per the study conducted by Brunton et al. (2017), it is noted here in public health assignment that it is crucial that the community as well as the stakeholders must remain engaged in the project to achieve a successful outcome. Moreover, it is an evidence-based approach that will help in the reduction of health inequities, especially in the people belonging to socio-economically disadvantaged group. Further, by engaging stakeholders in the decision-making process, it is possible for entrusting them with the sense of responsibility. They will also be provided with the option to put forward their views. This will further help in adapting to the best interventions. In this process of engaging the stakeholders and establishing overarching sets of guidelines, ‘Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit’ would be used. This will also help in determining the level of participation of the diverse stakeholders.

In addition to this, the public health assignment exploration also signifies that the project will incorporate behavioural change frameworks. In this regard, health belief models and social cognitive theory will also be employed. These models will help in changing the behavioural and Lifestyle approach of children and other stakeholders towards obesity and overweight. Evidence have been found with the usage of HBM model in promoting positive behaviour among the people in case of non-communicable diseases. This had been found in case of diverse gender, age, social status and so on (Soylar, Kadioglu, & Kilic, 2017).

Apart from the usage of the above-stated models here in public health assignment for the intervention process, formulation of nutrition policy with the help of the nutritionist will also help in outreaching the parents to motivate them to switch to a healthy lifestyle. This, in turn, will help the children to prevent overweight and obesity. In this intervention, it would also be crucial to remove the energy-dense snacks along with sugary drinks from the canteen of the school. There should also be a prevalence of culturally suitable food that is healthy. This along with reducing obesity also plays a crucial role in inducing positive behaviour among the students and the parents (Waters et al., 2011).

In addition to this, it would be also crucial to make physical activity mandate in Bossley Park High School. One such implemented programme is “Physical activity across the curriculum”. As per this programme, every school requires to provide at least 90 minutes of physical activity classes to the students once a week. This will significantly help in the reduction of the BMI of the students. The next intervention that could be adapted by Bossley Park High School explored in the present aspect of public health assignment is ‘Switch-play’ initiative (Salmon, Koorts & Timperio, 2018). According to the research on public health assignment, the incorporation of this intervention in the school will help in the significant reduction of stagnant time or the time that is spent in the sedentary position. This will not only help the students to be active but will also be useful in helping the students overcome issues associated with overweight and obesity. In this regard, it is also essential to provide professional development courses for other key stakeholders such as parents, teachers. This will act as a synergistic effect in reducing the occurrence of obesity and overweight. In addition to this, a program logic model would also be applied for illustrating the outputs, impacts along with outcomes (Das, Petruzzello & Ryan, 2014). The project would be carried for 1 year.

The proper implementation of the above-stated interventions within this public health assignment will help in achieving the following aim and objectives

What is the Aim of the project outlined in public health assignment?
Children belonging to the age group of 6 -12 years in Bossley Park High School would be encouraged to switch to healthy eating habits along with physical activities to overcome obesity and overweight.

Objectives
The major objectives are outlined in the present public health assignment are outlined below:

• To motivate 80% of the students of Bossley Park High School to eat healthier as well as nutritious food
• To make all the students participate in the physical activity curriculum for 90 minutes per week
• To encourage 20% of the students to obtain standardised body mass index.

Outline of the communication strategy
The present context of public health assignment demonstrates that the success of any project lies on the effectiveness of the communication. In order to maintain stakeholder engagement, it is essential that communication strategy should be built that is both coordinated as well as integrated. This will also help in motivating the stakeholders like the teachers, principal, parents and students to adopt healthy lifestyle and minimise the impact of obesity and overweight. In this process, it is crucial to develop stakeholder management framework. The participants of the framework would be internal and external stakeholders. 

Table 1: Stakeholder communication plan
(Source: Created by the learner)

Outline of the evaluation framework
The success of a project outlined in the public health assignment can be comprehended with the help of an evaluation process. This will help in proper evaluation of the project thoroughly.  Evaluation of a process helps in the determination of the credibility, integrity as well as accountability of the project. As overweight along with obesity is a complex global issue. Therefore, it is vital that the outcomes along with health promotion outcomes must be assessed. In this project work, the health outcomes would be equivalent to the complete improvement of the health conditions of a child. On the contrary, the alteration in the lifestyle along with the behaviour would be considered as the intermediary health outcomes. For this project, the increase in the literacy rate coupled with change in the social and personal habits would be taken as health promotion outcomes.

In order to examine the project explored in the public health assignment, the six steps represented in the evaluation framework that had been designed for programmes related to health promotion and disease prevention would be considered. The six steps include description of the programme. Evaluation preview, emphasising focus on evaluation designs, collection of data, analysis of the data and disseminating the lessons learnt (Victorian Government Department of Health, 2010). In this identification process of data collection, emphasis will be laid on selecting the most appropriate method. Thereafter, the data would be assessed and interpreted by the manager of the project, which may be a public health officer. According to the process evaluation discussed in the context of public health assignment, the activities would be evaluated, while in the impact evaluation the assessment of the effectiveness of the project will be done. The goal of the project would be resulted by the aid of post-one-year outcome.

Table 2: Process evaluation
(Source: Created by the learner)

Table 3: Impact evaluation
(Source: Created by the learner)

Table 3: Post Year Outcome Evaluation
(Source: created by the learner)

Conclusion
The study discussed in the public health assignment signified by the proper conductance and evaluation of the project, overweight and obesity can be easily dealt. The objectives should be conveyed by taking the help of the stakeholders.

References
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