A Clear Identification of the Problem Healthcare policy to prevent and control obesity among children is a problem that affects many communities. The issue has led to increased cases of obesity because of the poor decision-making by children and parents that expose them to obesity. The challenge is to educate families on the need to protect children from obesity and how the affected children can control the condition. Normal or excessive body fat that endangers a person's health is referred to as obesity. Understanding an adult's BMI is crucial for determining if they are obese or overweight. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is having a BMI of 30kg/m2 or more (Semlitsch et al., 2019). Moreover, the group defines overweight as having a BMI greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2. In 2019, approximately 38.2 million youngsters had obesity-related health concerns or were overweight (Semlitsch et al., 2019). The prevalence of obesity has increased in low-income countries, where it was formerly a prevalent public health concern. Those who live in urban areas are particularly affected by the rising prevalence of obesity and overweight in the middle- and low-income countries. The problem has persisted because of poor healthcare advocacy, which could educate families on the dangers of obesity and how they can control it. There is a lack of adequate policies on obesity control, making it difficult for parents and healthcare providers to control children's obesity. Current or Pending Laws/ Proposals Related to Your Topic The United States has developed various laws at the state and federal government levels to control obesity among children. One of the current laws concerning the topic involves the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (Dumoitier et al., 2019). The law requires food manufacturers to indicate the amount of cholesterol in their products before distributing them to the public. The notice provides the consumers with knowledge on the best food products to choose for their families; the decisions people make can be influenced by their ability to remain healthy. Another existing law on the topic involves the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (Brownell et al., 2019). The law focuses on strengthening the agricultural economy. The main focus of this law is to ensure that nutrition can improve among low-income households hence preventing hunger and nutrition-related diseases like obesity. Key Stakeholders to Contact on a Local, State, and National Level When developing the action plan, there are various stakeholders to contact who could support the plan hence enhancing success in solving the healthcare advocacy problem in issues related to obesity. One of the key stakeholders involves the politicians. Elected leaders are the major stakeholders because they are responsible for developing and passing policies and laws that control people's health (Goldenberg et al., 2020). When politicians are involved in this action plan, they can identify the best policies to improve healthcare advocacy for obesity in children. The other key stakeholder in this healthcare policy problem is the government. When developing policies related to the wellness of the people and other issues, the government is a major stakeholder because it oversees the policy's effectiveness. The government also ensures funding for policy formulation because it is a public problem. The other stakeholders involve the families in different communities. The major problem affecting obesity is the lack of knowledge and ignorance from the parents and children on a diet. Involving the families in this action plan would allow them to contribute to the challenges they experience regarding nutrition. The stakeholders would also learn about the different steps that can be taken to improve the condition. Healthcare workers make the other key stakeholders who can be involved in the action plan for healthcare advocacy in obesity. Employees in the healthcare sector understand the strategies parents can utilize and methods of addressing obesity among children and older people. As a result, contacting them would equip the process with adequate information and allow them to provide support on controlling obesity. Strategies or Steps You Would Take to Lobby for Implementation or Change When lobbying for the implementation, one strategy will involve working with stakeholders. After developing an action plan, there is a need to call for meetings with stakeholders like policymakers and families who would provide information on the changes required. The target would be to increase healthcare advocacy for children's obesity. Consultations can also take place on the best strategies and actions for each step involved. For instance, when developing policies to improve healthcare advocacy, the implementation team may consult the healthcare workers to ensure that the policies are functional and goals set are achievable. Talking Points to Discuss When Face-to-Face with Decision-Makers, to Clearly Propose a Solution One of the talking points involves outreach programs to families to teach people healthy eating habits and positive attitudes toward physical activity. Community outreach programs are vital in connecting people to available resources. The programs ensure equitable access to healthcare resources that can sensitize people on obesity prevention through healthy eating and exercise. Family-based outreach programs might be effective at preventing childhood obesity because parents determine their children’s diet (Tucker et al., 2019). People become obese because they have negative attitudes about food and exercise. Providing outreach to individuals can help them to make better dietary choices. The programs can help change family eating habits and activity levels, which can address obesity issues in children. Healthy living education for pregnant women is also a talking point for the decision-makers. Many parents need to know how to initiate healthy meals for children early. Education is among the best way of helping parents understand the importance of preventing obesity at an early age. Parents can help prevent obesity among their children by providing healthy meals and physical activity (Flattum et al., 2021). Healthy living promotion programs targeting patients in healthcare facilities can also address childhood obesity. The programs can help patients to learn about nutrition and live healthy lives. Decision-makers can collaborate with healthcare providers to offer health promotion programs on childhood obesity for patients. Distributing lay learner educational brochures on childhood obesity prevention in schools can also help address obesity among children. Educational brochures can help parents and children to learn about obesity, its causes, and ways to prevent the health issue (Flattum et al., 2021). Introducing obesity in early childhood learning is also talking about addressing childhood obesity. Children can learn about obesity in school and practice their knowledge to prevent obesity. Lack of knowledge and ignorance are among the issues that result in childhood obesity. Children can play a vital part in addressing childhood obesity if they learn it in school at an early age. A Brief Overview of What You Are Going to Do in the Next 90 Days to Set the Plan in Action Various activities need to be completed when setting the action plan in action. The steps begin with setting the goals and objectives on which the action plan focuses and end with monitoring the action plan. Each step to enhance success in the action plan will consist of a deadline. The purpose of the timeframe is to ensure that the team can achieve the plan's goals within the set deadline. The table below shows a brief overview of what will be done in the next 90 days to implement the plan. Action Step (what will be done) People responsible Date Completed Collaborators or communication (Who else should know)
Set goals and objectives Advocacy group 1 week Healthcare providers and policymakers
Create a balanced team Advocacy group 1 week Healthcare providers and policymakers
Prioritize tasks and add deadlines Implementation team selected 2 weeks All the stakeholders
Allocated resources The manager 1 week Implementation team and sponsors
Set milestones Implementation team selected 1 week All the stakeholders
Create an executable plan Implementation team selected 2 weeks All the stakeholders
Monitor, evaluate, and update Implementation team selected 2 weeks All the stakeholders
Goals you Hope to achieve in this Process
One of the goals is to ensure a clear healthcare policy on preventing and controlling obesity in children.
The second goal is to increase the advocacy for healthcare policies.
The intended outcome is to improve the issue of obesity among children. Since the lack of proper healthcare policies on nutrition contributes to the problem, the action plan will ensure that there is policy formulation related to obesity, nutrition, and advocacy, which would help solve the problem.
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