A Critique:

There has been a global increase in the cases of obesity. In identifying the issue, it has been established that there is clearly a need for health education pertaining to nutrition, diet and physical activity. As a result, the Health Families intervention has been established to target the need for this education amongst individuals in impoverished communities.

 Increase in rates of childhood obesity all over the world including the United States  From the incidence of childhood obesity have doubled and even tripled within youth in certain age brackets  It is of great concern because obesity has been linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and psychosocial disorders  In order to improve the health status of these children it is imperative that an initiative is made in changing their current behavior to encourage health conscious behaviors  Current studies show that family-based interventions are an effective way of changing the behaviors of children. However, this is only possible if the parents are dedicated to actively participating in the intervention  In recognizing the need to increase parental participation, this study employs the use of qualitative research to better understand the dynamics of intervention.

Increase the knowledge of healthier eating habits Decrease the rates of obesity within various communities in the United States Build a successful intervention

 Transtheoretical Model  Social Cognitive Theory for behavior change

Twelve weeks One child and adult from a household attended a series of lessons on how to read food labels, interpret the information and practicing using the information A meeting was held once a week for an hour and a half each week. The families were given lectures on how to read and interpret the information of food levels and also how to use positive reinforcement to encourage healthy eating and physical activity within their household Lectures were given for the first eleven weeks of the program On the final week of the program, the families were given the opportunity to put their knowledge to use at a grocery store

The original sample size of interviewees for the research was sixty-six participants Only nine out of the sixty-six participants were interviewed Number was so low due to the inability of the researcher to contact the rest of the participants because they had either had their phone disconnected, given a wrong number, did not answer, moved out of town or did not have an interpreter present to interpret for them during the interview Four families interviewed were Hispanic, three were African American, one was Caucasian and the other was biracial. The children who also participated in the research ranged from age eight to seventeen

 Transportation  Medical problems  School sports  Weather  Work

 Used to be available on a Health Families site  Cancelled  Abused  Providing transportation is not impactful according to other studies

 Overall, it is unknown if the intervention was successful  Not enough participants

 Wolcott, D. (2011). Changing health behaviors: Exploring families’ participation in a family-based community intervention for overweight/obese children.Childhood Obesity, 3(7), Retrieved from hMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName =PQD&TS= &clientId=16043