Monday, April 29, 2013

Childhood obseity part 2 (“Observing and Interacting With Professionals, Children and Families in an Early Childhood Setting”)


Name: Tammie Harris      
Date: 4/24/2013
 
 Name of Program/Setting: Child Care Center
Who I spoke with:  I spoke with a family member, her name was Jane and the teacher name was Vicky
 
The place where I observed from was a child care center, and I observed family members and teachers. I conducted my observation in the toddler room, and there were 15 children in the classroom. This room was set up to make every child feel welcome, meaning, the teachers had the tables in the center of the classroom and the activities in corners of the room and every child played together.

 The teachers that work at the center shared information with me about how they support foundations on childhood obesity. The organization they support is by Michelle Obama “let’s move”. They believe that if she continues to conduct meetings and support families who are trying to make a difference in their lives and their child’s live, then they believe that everyone would be able to maintain their weight control.

 
While observing the classroom, I asked the teacher her opinion about childhood obesity, she stated “I think it’s sad for our children to struggle with weight problem, and that it could lead to something more dangerous like, respiratory problems. That’s why I try to watch every food that children bring in the school and classroom”. I asked a parent on how she feels about childhood obesity. She said “our children are our future and we want them to live for as long as possible”. She also stated that she observe what her children eat, she has two children ages two and five years old, and also the parent looks like she’s in great shape as well. She said that, she shops at organic stores and sometimes, like once a month, her and her family would have a “cheat” day, where they could eat anything they want.

 
For my own experience, I’m currently going through this matter about my child, at her school, their saying that she’s obese, but I know that my child is not. How I know my child it’s obese it because, she eats healthy and go outside every day. My child is what you would call “healthy”, she is three years old and she’s almost four feet tall (her dad is 6’5) so he’s tall, and she’s been “healthy” ever since she was born. And plus her doctors has not said anything about her weight, all they say was, make sure I maintain it. I asked the teacher and director, how is my child obese, they told me, that her weight is more the 85 percentile. Till this day I am still fighting with the nurse on how my child is obese, and until I get answers, I will not stop until I find the answers.   

 

 

3 comments:

  1. Hi Tammie, I never heard of the "lets move foundation" very interesting and great to hear that there is such a program. The facility where you are observing, are do the children have gym? and if so how many times a week? I do feel that gym is great to have but of course not enough. I see many teachers trying to encourage children to bring in a healthy snack, but then I see those kids in some of the classrooms that are bringing hot cheetos and very unhealthy foods. In the school I am observing they have what is called "girls on the run" and "boys on the run" where they group up from 2nd grade to 4th grade and twice a week they meet after school and walk/run so many miles. At the end they run at a marathon with parents. I think this is an awesome thing to hold and encourage.

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  2. Tammie,
    Childhood obesity is an area that is requiring more and more attention. Families and their children are gaining increasing access to unhealthy food options. For a large number of families, going to fast food places and buying processed frozen meals are the easier/faster solutions. Schools really need to start providing healthier food options to counteract this growing family trend. Early childhood professionals also have to educate families on childhood obesity and the health risks that it brings to their children.

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  3. I think one reason so many of young children are obese is because of poverty. It is very expensive to shop organic, or fresh produce etc. It is cheaper to shop in the 'middle' of the store vs. the 'outside' of the store. If you can buy a pizza at Dominick's for $5 and it feeds the whole family why wouldn't you do that? If every day you can serve Ramon noodles for $0.10/ bag why would you serve something healthier. Making homemade food takes a long time and many times our parents work. It's sad.

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