Girl Scout Obesity Prevention Program

Abstract

The health problems that are linked with obesity are well known. These include diabetes, heart disease, and thyroid disorders, to name a few. But yet, the number of Americans diagnosed with obesity is still rapidly increasing, especially in children. The knowledge of the health problems linked to obesity alone is not enough to create successful methods to curb the trend of increasing obesity in the United States. The lack of proper knowledge and transfer of information in exercise and nutrition, misconceptions surrounding prevention, and improper timing and learning techniques have all resulted in unsuccessful programs for the prevention of childhood obesity. A successful program would need to include a hands-on, long term project, which encourages children to become active in the issue and retain the information learned and practiced. The program would also need to be expandable in order to start small, but be able to grow to incorporate many children. The service project focuses on a Brownie Girl Scout Troop in Moorestown, NJ. The girl scouts partake in an informational meeting where they create charts to track their eating and exercise habits for a month and learn all about prevention of obesity. Then, after a month of completion, they will have a final meeting where they will demonstrate what they have learned, and earn a patch to display on their Brownie vests. This patch will be a symbol of their knowledge and practice of obesity prevention, as well as motivation to keep up the proper nutrition and exercise for years to come. The girl scouts were targeted because the program could be extended to troops all over the country. This project will incorporate all techniques needed to properly teach the girl scouts about prevention in ways that they will retain, use, and pass on the information, as well as lay the framework for a project that can be passed on to a magnitude of children. (AT)