The Aspect Of Healthy Eating Children And Young People Essay

The Aspect Of Healthy Eating Children And Young People Essay The object of research is to determine how things are as compared to how things might be. Children and young people spend a considerable amount of time between the ages of three and sixteen in school. Therefore, school is a place to send out constant messages on healthy eating. This exploration aims to evaluate health promotion in a primary school. It will focus on the aspect of healthy eating as part of health promotion in schools. The Irish heart foundation (2011) state that one in four primary school children are overweight or obese and this is why this research is relevant. They also state that knowledge on healthy eating can be considered as one of many factors that influence eating habits. This investigation also aims to explore childrens knowledge on healthy eating in line with the curriculum and the Food Standards Agency (equivalent in Ireland). This investigation will show childrens knowledge of healthy eating by conducting a focus group. Adequate nutrition and physical acti vity in childhood is fundamentally important for growth, development and long-term health in adulthood (Sheppard, 2008). The author completed three weeks in a primary school on work experience. The researcher noticed that there was a lack of knowledge on healthy eating and it would be a relevant topic for a dissertation. The researcher asked the children aged eleven and twelve; what vegetables did you eat for dinner yesterday? One of the answers was rice which suggested a lack of knowledge of different food groups. Promotion of healthy heating in schools is one of the most important opportunities to ensure that children can choose a healthy diet now and later in life (Health promotion department, 2005). Exploring factors of childhood ability to understand the impact of nutrition will be basis to this study. Evaluating health promotion within the school will also be key. The national council for curriculum and assessment (NCCA) states that Developing health-promoting practices through his/her time in school can encourage the child to take increasing control over his/her own health and help to establish and maintain healthy behaviour from an early age. Healthy eating promotion ought to be taken serious in schools as children and young people are not in school forever and it can have a major impact on their lifestyles. One seeks to find out if the children know what they are eating is healthy and how different foods fall into different food groups. The Irish Heart Foundation (2011) State that maintaining a healthy weight involves balancing the energy taken into the body (food) with the energy used by the body (activity). Energy balance means that the amount of energy consumed is equivalent to the amount of energy expended and there is no storage or depletion of the bodys reserves (Bouchard, 2000). Children should know about good fats and bad fats in food to get a steady energy balance. It has been evidenced through research that following a healthy diet can significantly reduce the perceived health risks amongst children. A healthy diet will positively influence a childs current and future health status, reducing the risk of many chronic diseases and conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes (The department of Public Health, 2011). Food Standards Agency UK has set out a framework for food competences on core skills and knowledge children for young people. It states that children of a certain age should have certain skills and certain knowledge on nutrition. One will find the equivalent in Ireland and put the selected focus group to the test to see if they have adequate knowledge on healthy eating. Health Behaviour in school-aged (HBSC, 2006) report has shown that many young people have poor eating habits. Food and drink are a vital part of our daily lives. They play the essential role in the development of the human being (Healthy food for all 2012). For young people to achieve their full potential, it is necessary that they eat healthily. There are many factors that can affect future health status in children and young people. During the mid-1980s the school as a health promoting situation was a somewhat under-developed idea in Ireland. Schools lay the foundations for children to carry lifestyles into adult life. Initially led by the health sector, a partnership approach between health and education has enabled the more widespread acceptance of school-based approaches to health maintenance and improvement (Gabhainn, OHiggins Barry 2010). Ireland was one of the first to adopt the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) approach. Schools remain one of the few places where children are reasonably protected for commercial interests. (NCCA) set out the curriculum for primary schools in Ireland in 1999. A compulsory subject known as social, personal and health education (SPHE) was introduced. It is designed to run with the whole school approach to health promotion (Department of education and science, 2000). The curriculum is presented in six subject strands comprising of 11 subjects. One of strands is called (SPHE). SPHE provides particular opportunities to foster the health and well-being of a child. Through the SPHE programme children can develop a sense of personal responsibility for their own health and for the decisions and the choices they make. The Irish Governments National Health Promotion Strategy was set in place between 2000 and 2005. Its aim was for every school to promote healthy eating habits and a healthy body image among school-going children and young people. Every school had to facilitate the implementation of health education and health promotion programs. Food Dudes is one of the many programs which schools got in partnership with. It was developed by the food activity research unit at Bangor University, Wales, to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home. Eating habits throughout life are established at a young age. Therefore, learning to choose and enjoy different foods in childhood provides the foundation for healthy food choices in childhood (Department of health and children, 2011). As children are in school thirty seven weeks of the year, schools have the potential to play a significant role in promoting healthy eating habits amongst children. The researcher will use children aged eleven and twelve because they are about to make the transition from primary school to secondary school and as per key stages 2 in Wales and The Food Standards Agency UK, they should have sufficient nutritional knowledge. The researcher will take the approach of a qualitative method. A focus group is a group interview with four to twelve people (OLeary, 2010). Focus groups will be considered to conduct the investigation. Questionnaires will also be considered but a focus group would get more of and in-depth knowledge from the participants. One of the advantages of a focus group is that it can develop its own dynamics, and will explore an issue with minimum intervention from the researcher (Oliver, 2010). The aim of the focus group is to use rich discussion draw out depth of opinion and knowledge that probably would not occur from direct interviews. Children at the age of eleven and twelve will be selected at random to for the group. The researche r will then ask questions to get an idea of the childrens knowledge for the grounding of the study. Probes will then be used to elaborate on some of the answers. The researcher will stimulate the discussion and will use some food as focus materials to help the group focus on the topic of study. The Meeting will be recorded for further observation. It allows for non verbal as well as verbal data. It deals not with what people say but what they actually do to the extent that their behaviour is open to observation (Gillham, 2008). The researcher will collect data by taking records. One will also observe and analyse the recorded video of the session. First of all, the recorded text will have to be read. Secondly, the researcher will watch and listen to the tape recording many times. As the researcher observes the tape one will make note of any impressions that maybe useful at a later stage. One will focus on the information given in many ways as there will be different individual or group reaction on different questions and topics. The data will be organised by question to look across all answers so the researcher can identify consistencies and differences. All data from each question will be put together. The researcher will set specific categories in advance and then observe for the data in these categories. The categories should provide a path on where the researcher wants to go. Connections between the categories and within the categories should start to take place. One will count how many times a topic com es up as this should show which categories are the most important. With this all done the researcher will use topics and connections to explain findings. A hard copy and an electronic copy of all information will be kept. By having an electronic copy, text can be moved around very easy and one may wish to copy information onto excel for tables for example.

Erikson’s Theory Essay

When discussing the development theory, Erikson had been the frontier with many major contributions. Unlike Freud and Piaget, Erikson’s theory of development focused much more on social interactions. While most of us agreed that children do become toilet-trained between ages one and three, Erikson’s theory also went further to acknowledge that children also learn to talk, walk, feed themselves, etc. In order to understand Erikson’s theory of development, we need to focus on three main principles: dynamic balance of opposites, vital involvement and life in time. Dynamic balance of opposites: There are two opposing tendencies in dynamic balance of opposites: dystonic (negative) and syntonic (positive). Erikson believed there were eight stages, and at each one, the individual resolved a crisis between the positive (syntonic) and negative (dystonic) tendencies (Erikson & Kivnick 1986). A resolution of crisis does not mean that a person rejects either syntonic or dystonic completely, but rather that a person should find a balance between two of those tendencies. For instance, our American culture has frequently taught parents to never say â€Å"no† to their children because that could potentially damage a child’s self-esteem. However, Erikson would disagree and say that children do need to hear â€Å"no† sometimes to understand that the whole world does not revolve around them. Erikson would also say that telling the child â€Å"no† all of the time is bad as well. Vital involvement depends on the balance of syntonic and dystonic tendencies. Vital Involvement: Erikson developed eight stages of development. First, the trust versus mistrust stage, where infants start to learn that either the world is good and can be trusted, or is bad and can’t be trusted (Erikson et.al 1986). For instance, Erikson would state that babies learn to trust their caregivers for not letting them go hungry, but babies also learn to mistrust their caregivers for yelling at them and not feeding them consistently. Second, the autonomy versus shame and doubt stage where children learn about their own â€Å"selves† which is separate from their caregivers (Erikson et.al 1986). In this stage, children usually develop their own will and desires and apply  them well by saying â€Å"no†. When children start to feel comfortable using â€Å"no† as a way to reach their desires, they have reached the initiative versus guilt stage. In this stage, children learn to internalize values from the elder and also acquire the sense of guilt for wrongdoing. The next stage is industry versus inferiority where children explore the greater world in elementary school and their surroundings. Erikson did pay a lot of attention in the identity versus confusion stage because it focuses on adolescents and their identity crisis. Fidelity is the heart of identity because adolescents share some of their parent’s values, as well as develop their own. The last three stages include intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity versus despair. Each of these stages focuses greatly on the continuity of human development until death. Erikson recognized that there are certain time periods when it might be easier for some to develop and harder for others to develop, depending on the environment that influence them. For instance, some children who faced hardships (family separation, family violence, etc.) might have trouble in certain stages or even all of the stages, depending on where the factors start. Life in time: Erikson referred to his theory of development as epigenesis. Epigenesis is relevant to evolution (the past and the future) and genetics. Erikson explained, â€Å"†¦epi can mean ‘above’ in space as well as ‘before’ in time, and connected with genesis can well represent the space-time nature of all development† (Erikson et.al 1986). Erikson did not refer epigenetic to individual genetic make-up and how it influences individual development. Rather, Erikson was concerned with how personality and behavior is influenced after birth and so on. For instance, my mother has had a hard time adjusting with American culture when we first migrated here from Vietnam. My sister and I started to adapt to the new culture right away—from clothing style, hairstyle, hobbies, etc. in which my mother had a very difficult time to accept. She wanted us to keep our traditional customs at home, as well as outside our home. At first, we felt reluctant because we felt she did not understand the importance of â€Å"fitting-in† at school. However, as we started college, my sister and I started to realize that our culture and traditions are unique and understand where my mother was coming from (Identity/ confusion stage). Conclusion: Erikson had dedicated his life by contributing to developmental psychology in major ways. Erikson’s theory of development is still widely used and studied by many scholars.

Oration About Environment Essay

Power crisis is a perennial problem particularly among nations which are dependent on foreign countries for their energy source. Oil is an expensive commodity, but it is the life-blood of developing nations in their quest for comfort in life. The life of the business world in said countries depends on a highest degree on power run by oil. But they will have to bear the price of oil in order to maintain operation. Energy for household use is therefore given the backseat in importance due to its high cost. We need alternative source for that matter. Our country, the Philippines, is believed to have rich source of fossil fuel. However, the problem is how to mine it. Foreign investors are usually allowed by government to explore prospect sites. For example, one latest findings of reservoir sands and hydrocarbon at Dabakan in Mapun island, Tawi-Tawi in southern Philippines by the Exxon Mobil Corp., is now in progress. This discovery of hydrocarbons considered to occur naturally in unprocessed petroleum has prompted the company to invest another $100 million for the drilling of another well, news reports says.Significant oil and gas reserves have also been discovered in Malampaya and Galuc fields in Palawan. There are other sites of more fuel reserves being mined by foreign investors and yet our country imports expensive oil. Isn’t it embarrassing that our country which is rich in fossil fuel underneath, is again being threatened by power shortage, the timing of which is projected to be on the 2010 election day? In fact, it is already beginning to happen these days. Here, let me share you my personal observation and suggestions to my countrymen along this energy problem. I want to share my views and opinion, in the hope that it would also serve as an eye-opener to people in underdeveloped or developing countries as well, in the following oration piece I wrote for my daughter in high school which she delivered as a contest piece. From this , you can deduce about the state of our power problems more than 15 years ago and which is still gaining intensity now. Please allow me to give a backgrounder to this oration piece. My daughter emerged champion in a city division oratorical competition when she was in fourth year high school in 1994. She garnered a gold medal. She represented the division schools in the next level, regional contest. She didn’t make it there though, but the experience was something she cherishes to this day.

The Is The Fastest Growing Population Of The Homeless Essay

As stated before SAMHSA (2011) stated that 1,593,150 individuals experienced homelessness within a year. The source also broke down this large figure into gender, age, race/ethnicity, mental illness and substance abuse. 62% of individuals were male and 38% were female. Individuals who are under the age of 18 is 21.8%. On average, half the families have small children, which is the fastest growing population of the homeless (Donohoe, 2007). Citizens who are 18 to 30 years of age are 23.5%, 31 to 50 are 37%, 51 to 61 are 14.9%, and 62 years of age or older are 2.8%. Within the age make up are different variations of races/ethnicity. White and Non-Hispanic make up 41.6%, White and Hispanic are 9.7%, Black/African American are 37%, other single races are 4.5%, and more than one race is 7.2%. In addition to these statistics, it is also stated that 26.2% on individuals who are homeless have severe mental illness, and 34.7% have a chronic substance abuse issue (SAMHSA, 2011). From all the harsh conditions an individual faces while searching for proper housing and food, their life span is shortened by forty five years. Women are more typically to be seen homeless compared to men because of several reasons. Some would be sexual abuse within a home or foster care, or abuse from an adult partner. Women and children are 50% more likely to be homeless as a way to escape domestic violence. More than 70% to 80% of women and children are turned away from shelters because there is notShow MoreRelatedHelping The Homeless Is A Worthy Cause1502 Words   |  7 Pagesacross a homeless person? Do you give them money and try to help them out ? Or do you keep walking by like you saw nothing? Some people, the majority of the time, tend to just walk by without helping, and this is what makes the homeless population relatively large. Many people are affected globally by homelessness, and the population gets larger yearly. 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