Case study ( community nutrition) child nutrition program Essay

Case study ( community nutrition) child nutrition program - Essay Example Recent studies have shown that 40% of calories taken by the children in school lunch come from fats, which is highly undesirable as fats should not contribute more than 30% of total calorie intake, and of that less than 10 percent should be from saturated fats. Such eating habits coupled with lack of physical activity have invariably led to increase in incidence of obesity among school children with 12 percent high school students and 14 percent elementary school students falling prey to obesity, considering students with weights greater than 85th percentile for their age. The decrease in physical activity has mainly been due to reduction in number of physical activity periods from once a day to twice a week due to increased burden of studies, which eats into the time that should ideally be left for allowing school children to play or exercise. So the solution lies in making students more aware of usefulness sports and exercises play in their lives, promoting healthy eating habits, i ncreasing incentives to eat healthier foods, banning fried or fast foods from school canteens and organising programs aiming at correcting false eating habits. As the director the Child Nutrition Program I have identified elementary school going children as the ones with the greatest risk factors. They have levels of obesity standing at 14 percent. Considering the importance of inculcating the right habits at a early stage with regards to eating and physical activity they should be the prime focus group. Also these children are very impressionable but not exposed to the latest findings and research on healthier and better ways of living, therefore, they can easily be mislead by the marketing world who target children of this age group as their prime consumer base. The approach for such a pilot program should be multifaceted. There is a need to create a general