Needs
Our programs are designed to address acute issues with obesity in children by educating them on healthy
alternatives to their current diets and thus empowering them to make sound decisions and choices that will
yield healthy outcomes for longevity and a higher quality of life as they enter adulthood. Childhood is an
important time whereby the trajectory for good health throughout life is established. (Rankings n.d.)
Childhood obesity is associated with physical, social and psychological health issues in both
adolescence and adulthood including:
• The clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors that increased the risk of developing cardiovascular disease
and type 2 diabetes
• Bone and joint problems, asthma and sleep apnea
• Poor self-esteem, social isolation and depression
Besides the extra weight itself, weight stigma, also known as weight-based discrimination of weight bias,
negatively influences psychological and physical health. Weight stigma is defined as social discrimination
and stereotyping based on an individual’s weight. The associated health issues include:
• Substance misuse in adulthood
• Increase in cortisol level (This is the stress hormone which causes belly fat.)
• Increased risk of disordered eating behaviors
• Increased risk if chronic diseases
• Bias in medical care
Childhood obesity is responsible for an estimated $14 billion in lifetime direct medical costs or
$19,000 per child with obesity or overweight. (Rankings n.d.)
Long-term, we’re empowering children and their families to change their family dynamics and ultimatel
their family legacies from contracting “traditional” chronic health conditions that they have grown to accept
as an inevitable part of life and aging to a legacy of strength, and knowledge that can yield health and
wealth for years to come.
To do this, short-term, we will provide hands-on guided fitness training with the equipment available at the
service location as well as exercise plans that the participants can do at home without equipment. We will
design specific nutrition meal plans for the participants as well as provide the some of the food
recommended in the meal plans and require them to log their food intake to ensure accountability and track
results. In addition, we engage the participants’ adult guardians in an effort to reinforce the changes they
are learning during the sessions with the facilitators in hopes that the adults around the participants will also
adopt the same healthy food choices that their child will learn and adopt. This is a community effort to fight
such a deadly and 100% preventable disease.
Long-term, our plan is to build a facility that accommodates anyone who wants to participate in the
programs and not be burdened with the “cost” of a gym membership, a nutritionist and a fitness coach while
their parents are struggling to make rent and keep the utilities on at home. While we may not be able to
alleviate the food deserts in the area or the lack of suitable gyms for young people, we are diligently working
to provide resources where we can in order to fill in the gap and help people make the best choices out of
what is available to them in the areas where they live. One of those resources we plan to provide are
community gardens that will be planted and cultivated by the program participants as well as the local
residents in identified food deserts of South Dallas. These gardens will provide the fresh fruits and
vegetables that are often missing or not available in the local corner stores that the youth go to for food.
While the community gardens project is still in the planning stages, we expect it to become a major part of
the continued success in each participants’ new habits and lifestyle.