Table of Contents
Preparation of Presentation to Elected Official
Healthcare is a continuously evolving entity that requires science and observation with a commitment to safety and efficacy. It is vital for the nurses to have their voices heard in order to affect changes that will benefit the community. One way to ensure that this happens is through political action and meeting with elected officials who represent the constituents’ best interests. This paper will discuss the crisis of child obesity, detail a presentation to an elected school board official to work together with to combat the crisis, and a self-evaluation of the video that has been presented in relation to the topic.
Overview of the Healthcare Policy Concern and Solution
Childhood obesity is a growing worldwide concern that must be addressed in the United States to avoid the crisis becoming worse. Approximately 32% of children in the United States are considered overweight, or at or above the 85th percentile body mass index (BMI)- for- age and about 17% of American children are considered obese, or at or above the 95th percentile BMI- for- age (Khan, Raine, Donovan, & Hillman, 2014). These numbers have increased threefold since the 1980s and are expected to double over the next twenty years (Khan, et al., 2014). The issue of childhood obesity is compounded by today’s diets which are high in refined carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and salt (Trude, Surkan, Cheskin, & Gittelsohn, 2018).
Poor nutrition may negatively affect cognition and energy in children due to many systemic effects such as insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (Khan, et al., 2014). Increased adipose tissue in children has been shown to negatively affect reading, spelling, and mathematics (Khan, et al., 2014). It is necessary to foster a food environment in schools that assists elementary school children in making healthy choices that the students carry with them into adulthood. These small changes in diet can lead to better health into adulthood for school aged children.
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Point Pleasant Borough offers lunches that contain a relatively balanced variety of healthy choices, however, ice cream is also offered as a purchase option. It is in the best interest of the children to remove high sugar and high fat options for snacks such as ice cream. Offering ice cream and cookies as lunchtime dessert is not necessary. Rollings and Wells (2018) report that children take in up to two meals and a snack during school hours which accounts for 19-50% of a child’s daily caloric intake.
Offering snacks such as ice cream in the cafeteria can lead to a child opting for the more attractive option of sweets that are high in refined sugars and fats and discarding healthy and nutritious choices such as fruits and vegetables. Children throw away as much as 40% of cooked vegetables, 30% of salads, and 20% of fruits at school regularly (Rollings & Wells, 2018). These healthy foods have the potential to be discarded at a higher rate when elementary school children are offered the option between the healthier foods and sugary treats. It is time to take junk food off the menu at Nellie Bennett and Ocean Road Schools.
Identification of Communication Techniques
Diane Peterson is an elected Point Pleasant Borough, New Jersey school board member. She has school-aged children who attend school in the district and is a masters-prepared educator who has recently dedicated herself to preparing new educators as faculty at a local university. Her record during her tenure on the board has shown she is a strong advocate for the children of the community. Mrs. Peterson is an excellent resource to introduce healthy policy changes within the community.
One technique for communicating with an elected official is utilizing the preferred method of contact of the official. Contacting an elected official via telephone is often preferred, but Mrs. Peterson’s email through the Borough website has yielded a communication exchange and a meeting has been arranged. Mrs. Peterson has requested further communication via text message and has furnished her mobile phone number. Another valuable technique is the formulation of an outline prior to the meeting or presentation to keep order during the discussion of the topic (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016).
The presentation and discussion with Mrs. Peterson should include active listening that considers her limitations as a board member (Cullerton, Donnet, Lee, & Gallegos, 2018). A fourth useful approach to the presentation is to be succinct and offer citations from well-known and highly respected sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to drive home the important points of the presentation (Dodson, Geary, & Brownson, 2015).
Self-Evaluation of Video Presentation
During the presentation, all the required content was delivered. In the introduction of self, a connection was made in the shared experience of having children in the school system. The information offered regarding child obesity was succinct and offered relevant information that draws the audience into the complexity of the problem without overusing data. One positive of the content delivered was the presentation of data using a well-known source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The solution of replacing poor nutritional value snacks with whole foods was provided with rationale to back up the plan. The summary could have been improved. The transition was weak, and the summary was too short. It seemed like an abrupt ending to the presentation.
In reference to the method of delivery, the positive aspect was the opening. It was effective in that it draws in the audience and makes the presenter relatable with the background information provided. Grammar was correct throughout the presentation. There were points during the presentation, however where there were pauses to look at notes which could cause a disconnect from the audience.
The speaking voice was clear, although somewhat rushed at points. Eye contact was good, with the speaker looking directly into the camera to appear as though speaking to the individual. Appearance was neat and professional. The gestures offered were minimal. Perhaps the use of a different camera angle that shows more of the body would have been more beneficial.
Conclusion
The people within any community must work together with elected officials to affect changes and improve the quality of life of the people. Nurses are in an important position to draw attention to health issues that can affect policy at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Child obesity is an issue that can be combatted at the local level with the help of elected school board officials like Diane Peterson with whom one can change cafeteria policy to improve the health of the students of Point Pleasant Borough, New Jersey through a presentation that was self-evaluated. This is one small step to a healthier future for the students of this district.
References
- Cullerton, K., Donnet, T., Lee, A., & Gallegos, D. (2018). Effective advocacy strategies for influencing government nutrition policy: A conceptual model. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,15(1), 83-83. doi:10.1186/s12966-018-0716-y
- Dodson, E., Geary, N., & Brownson, R. (2015). State legislators’ sources and use of information: Bridging the gap between research and policy. Health Education Research, 30(6), 840-8. doi:10.1093/her/cyv044
- Khan, N. A., Raine, L. B., Donovan, S. M., & Hillman, C. H. (2014). The cognitive implications of obesity and nutrition in childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 79(4), 51–71. https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/mono.12130
- Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. T. (Eds). (2016). Policy & politics in nursing and healthcare (7th ed.). Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com
- Rollings, K.A., & Wells, N.M. (2018). Cafeteria assessment for elementary schools (cafes): Development, reliability testing, and predictive validity analysis. BMC Public Health, 18(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-018-6032-2
- Trude, A.C.B., Surkan, P.J., Cheskin, L.J., & Gittelsohn, J. (2018). A multilevel, multicomponent childhood obesity prevention group-randomized controlled trial improves healthier food purchasing and reduces sweet-snack consumption among low-income African-American youth. Nutrition Journal, 17(1). doi:10.1186/s12937-018-0406-
