Promoting Healthy Living Habits

Juan Pablo Penagos Duque

Bureche School

11°A

September 2021
 Promoting Healthy Living Habits

The WHO estimates that 2.100 million people worldwide are overweight. Obesity is a

disease with a high risk of mortality and is considered a public health problem. The area I’ve

chosen is the willingness to help others, this is because I'm passionate about nutrition and

helping people overcome their addictions and especially their overweight and obesity. I was

categorized as obese, with 13 years I weighed 80 kilograms, I often got depressed about my

appearance, and constantly received bullying from my classmates, and even from my family

members. One day I proposed to give a 360° change to my life, I started eating healthier and

began to exercise. After 3 months I already had lost 15 kilos. I was so excited, and this

achievement motivated me to keep going on my weight loss journey. But I got obsessed. In

December 2019 without realizing it, I got an eating disorder. I didn't ate much in a day. I got

obsessed with counting my daily calories and weighing on the scale. I had a problem. Thanks

to my parents I got over my eating disorders. All this weight loss journey experience taught

me a lot, especially on everything that has to do with nutrition. I became my family's

nutritionist. During quarantine my parents were overweight, I convinced them to begin a

healthy life. Now they are in their ideal weight.

My project consists of creating good eating habits and reducing the overweight rates

of the Bureche community. The methodology that would be used would be talks, surveys,

presentations made by the students, and awareness of bad life habits. The participants

targeted by this campaign are teachers, workers, parents, and students. The students that want

to participate in this campaign will only be carried out with the authorization of the student's

parents.

1) Survey the students and take measurements of weight and height: The first step of the

campaign would be to take notes about the characteristics of each student. Students
 would approach the school nurse, who will make a database of the student’s height

and weight. The nurse will calculate the BMI of the student and will be advised on

how to achieve their goal. These measurements would be taken with the presence of a

family member.

2) Talk with parents, Talks, and conferences with parents will be a crucial phase of this

campaign. The school may have a healthy lunch program, but if in the student’s home

bad alimental habits still exist, we will not have progress. Parents will be informed

with visual and informational material about the risks, consequences, and prevention

of overweight.

3) Presentation by a professional, The third step consists of a conference for the students

held by a professional on the topic, similar to Dr. Carlos Jaramillo. The presentation

must be explained in a fun way, encouraging and motivating students to include

healthy habits in their daily life.

4) In step four we have the promotion of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. We

will do a poster competition, each class would create 3 posters about healthy habits,

this poster will be pasted all around the school. P.E teachers will encourage and teach

students about the importance of exercising frequently. The implementation of active

breaks between classes will be fundamental.

5) In step five, the second survey of measurement will be developed. This survey would

be made at the end of the school year. The objective will be to study the results of the

campaign.
 6) Lastly, the results obtained between the first and the last survey will be published in

the Bureche News with the authorization of the student and parents. Showing the

results will encourage them to persevere responsibly in their healthy life habits.

Some barriers this campaign might have would be:

1) The lack of interest of students to join. Parents play an important role to solve this

obstacle. They are the ideal people to convince their children to join the project. As I

said before, the campaign should be fun and interesting. By making advertisements on

social media and in school about the benefits of being part of the campaign, students

would want to join.

2) Demotivation of the students: Some of the students that would enter the campaign

will experience normal demotivation. The leaders of the campaign will be in charge of

keeping them motivated, they will achieve this by creating a weight loss journal in

which students could see their progress and physical changes.

For the realization of the project, the school wouldn't need to spend a huge amount of

money. The only investment the school would make is the expert’s presentation. The

professional will be in charge of making a presentation for the students, giving tips and

advice on how to keep a healthy lifestyle. The money to pay the professional would be

obtained from a small contribution each student would make.

A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.

-Mark Twain

References:
Obesidad y sobrepeso, una realidad que enfrentar. (2020, 31 agosto). Portafolio.co.

https://www.portafolio.co/mas-contenido/obesidad-y-sobrepeso-una-realidad-que-enfrentar-5

44154