1. Pictures: Teenagers learning how to cook a healthy meal.
Childhood Obesity: Peer Education Programs For Prevention and Intervention Thais Santos de Melo, UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) Maia Ingram, Health Promotion Science, Co-Director Arizona Prevention Research Center Latin American Summer Program 2016
Introduction A rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity in children has been seen around the world. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Obesity now affects 1 in 6 children and adolescents in the United States For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, the prevalence of obesity has remained fairly stable at about 17% . According to WHO (World Health Organization) undercurrent projections the number of children who are overweight and obese in the world will increase up to 75 million. In Brazil, low infant weight is a major concern. However, newly alarming is the increase of overweight and obese among children and adolescents is growing.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica – Brazilian Institute of geography and statistics)
Prevention and intervention programs are necessary for children and teenagers to prevent this condition. Two programs currently being used in a U.S. Latino community, La Vida Buena and Youth Advocates for Health, are aimed at improving the healthy habits of youth. Both these programs use peer education strategies, since there is a belief that youth listen more to their peers than to adults.
Methods
This project used three methods:
A literature review of nutritional educational programs from Brazil and the U.S.
Observation of “La Vida Buena” group and discussion with program coordinators.
Guides discussion with Youth Advocates participants about their experience in the program.
Results
A review of Nutritional Education Program in Brazil showed that there is nothing similar to Peer Education programs in the U.S.
The Public Health Department has programs for prevention and control of some deficiencies, such as Iron and Vitamin A, it they are not educational. There are no programs specific to children and teenagers.
When asked about peer education programs, the coordinators of the “La Vida Buena” stated the following:
Adolescents enjoy spending time as a group while learning about different topics.
They do not think the peer educators need to be paid to participate in the program.
In depth knowledge about some topics, such as risk of HIV or obesity, is more likely to impact their behavior.
The peers advocates emphasized issues they felt were important that can be generalized to youth in other places:
They didn’t know previously the quantity of sugar in various food products;
It is difficult to drink enough water;
It is difficult to read food labels and pay attention to ingredients;
It is easier to exercise more than change what they eat;
Discussion
The idea of this research was to outline a peer education program to implement in Brazil. As discussed, Brazil is becoming a country with high prevalence of overweight and obesity, including childhood obesity.
How would the program work? High school students, aged 14 to 17, would apply to participate and then be selected. To encourage the students to participate, they would earn class credit.
Unlike the U.S., in most of the public schools the Brazilian students do not study during the entire day they usually have two shifts – morning and afternoon. The students would participate in the program before or after school.
What would they learn? The students would learn about nutrition, physical activities and the importance of a better healthy lifestyle. They would be able to understand and teach others about food labels, ingredients and how their lifestyle is related to chronic diseases.
The teachers and/or health professionals would teach for 2 hours everyday during a few weeks. Then, the students would teach the younger kids – elementary school – about what they learned.
It is natural for peers to share what they learn and usually teenagers listen more to their friends than to adults. I believe that peer educators is a good strategy the help teenagers be more conscious about overweight and obesity.
Conclusion
Prevention of childhood obesity is an important issue for future generations, but is also a current worry. It is important to find effective programs to promote prevention. Peer education is a good option if the right strategies are applied.
References
accessed on July 7th 2016
accessed on July 7th 2016
accessed on July 7th 2016
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my gratitude to my mentor Professor Maia Ingram, for all the assistance during the project. And to Capes (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), which granted me this opportunity of scholarship.
Pictures: Teenagers learning how to cook a healthy meal.