Get Fit With the Grizzlies Essay -- Article Review, Childhood Obesity

The article I chose to analyze is titled Get Fit With the Grizzlies: A Community-School-Home Initiative to Fight Childhood Obesity, which focused on social and physical health related determinants in their strategy to confront childhood obesity and promote change. The research done by C. Irwin, R. Irwin, Miller, Somes, and Richey (2010) in regards to the development of a community health promotion program has similarities to various aspects of the nutrition group’s video and components of their health promotional program structure. As previously noted, social and physical determinants to health aided in the process of development and helped determine societal needs, as depicted by this group’s population of interest. The population that the nutrition group used, involved 9-10 year old boys, who were already in a pre-established group who shared common interest i.e. cub scouts, were learning about nutrition in other areas of their life, parents actively participated and were present, presentation provided to them in a familiar environment i.e. cub scout meeting, and were motivated to participate in this program by earning a pin. Similarly, as found in Irwin, et al. (2010), participants in their program included relatively the same age group, specifically 9-11 year old children from Memphis City Schools in TN, where 11 elementary schools were randomly selected out of 110 to participate in this program and parents involvement at home was required at times. The dissemination of information in the video appeared to be very age appropriate and used similar supplemental tools such as the US Department of Agriculture’s MyPyramid and incorporated physical activities. Interestingly enough, both programs used basketball within their progr... ...r week, after school NutriActive program with kindergarten and first graders. This study’s results indicated that a short, vigorous program such as NutriActive’s, can produce significant and sustainable improvements in motor skills and fitness levels of young children. The nutrition group’s program, especially the interactive components would likely be a great fit for this population, the content may need to be changed slightly to make it more age appropriate but the overall message and delivery would useful. It’s important to point out that the nutrition group, the Holcomb et al. study, and Matvienko et al. study all use of a client centered approach, and a common theme is apparent with respect to enabling individuals participating in these programs to foster feelings of competence, which contribute to their overall sense of well-being and satisfaction in life.