Woodson Community Needs a New Playground and a Community Center

April 24

2013
Advantages of putting in better playground equipment and adding a community center

Letter of Transmittal Introduction What does it mean to be Obese? Overweight? Causes of Obesity Effects of Obesity How can we prevent this?

To Jessica Sahene: The Woodson Community needs a new playground and a community center. In the report that is attached, I would like to propose a solution to decreasing the percentage of children and even adults who are obese. There are statistics about the percentage of children that are obese and there are also statistics about the percentage of obese children who go on to be obese as adults. You see people who advertise that you should get out and play an hour a day, but there really isn't any motivation behind it. The kids look at the person behind the message and see a fit person. It's not someone their own age and was overweight until they decided to lead a healthy lifestyle. I'm more likely to buy a skincare product because the commercial is tailored to an audience around my age. It shows people around my age who have used the product and are telling the things they liked about it. Granted, they don't tell what they didn't like about it. If the children can relate to a point that is trying to be brought across, they are more likely to listen and then act upon what they have heard. If the kids in this community had a new playground, it would decrease the obesity rate and create active, healthy kids. Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them and if I don't know the answer, I will find someone who does.

Sincerely,

Rachel Chatwood

Introduction
Childhood obesity has been a growing concern over the last decade all over the world. Built environmental characteristics such as parks and playgrounds serve as a reference point for physical activity in children (Qazi). The National Center for Health Statistics reports that the percentage of elementary-age children who are considered obese has doubled since 1980, from 7% to 14%. Generally, children who are between 10 and 20% over the appropriate weight for their height and age would be classified as overweight. Children who are 20% or more over the ideal weight are classified as obese. About 85% of obese children continue to be classified as obese for the rest of their lives (Brown, Sutterby, and Thornton). Improvements to the playground will help to prevent childhood obesity and will promote physical exercise for future generations. If the kids have somewhere to go to have fun in their own neighborhood, they will start having a healthy lifestyle at a young age and it will be with them as they get older. Additions could also be added for adults. I've heard adults say if only they didn't have to go so far to work out. There are many directions we can go with improvements to our neighborhood park.

What does it mean to be Obese? Overweight?

Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass. Overweight refers to increased body weight in relation to height, when compared to some standard of acceptable or desirable weight (Marcus and Baron). Growing up in a family that cooked nearly every night and had fast food on other nights, I gained weight over time. I was considered overweight in the second or third grade and obese in the fifth and sixth grade. At first,

I didn't mind. My friends didn't treat me any differently, so what was there to worry about. It didn't really hit me until high school. The weight had shifted by then because I had grown a few inches, but that didn't stop someone from bullying me. I didn't like it when that person picked on me because of the way I looked and the fact that I could do the same things as them and was getting praised for it. I don't want others in the same boat as me to feel like they have to hide who they are just because of the way they look. If children are given the choice to have fun at a young age and begin a healthy lifestyle, they won't have to go through the same thing that I have had to go through.

Causes of Obesity
Although there are some genetic and hormonal causes of childhood obesity, most of the time it's caused by kids eating too much and exercising too little (Staff, Mayo Clinic). I read somewhere that children tend to eat some of the same things that they see their parents and grandparents eat. If their parents and/or grandparents eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and proportion sizes, then children are more likely to have the same eating habits. If parents and/or grandparents eat a lot of sweets, junk food, and bigger proportion sizes, then children are more likely to do the same. There are cases where parents and/or grandparents give children junk food as a reward for doing a good job at something. This causes the child to do good things, expecting a reward in return. Also, letting your child eat whatever they want could also cause childhood obesity. Start kids out young eating lots of different vegetables, fruits, and proportion sizes. They may not like everything they eat, but you can't say they didn't try it first.

Effects of Obesity

Overweight children, as compared to children with a healthy weight, are more likely to develop many health problems such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are associated with heart disease in adults. Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in overweight children and adolescents (Marcus, Baron). The most immediate consequence of being overweight as perceived by children themselves is social discrimination and low-self-esteem. In a recent study by Schwimmer, et.al. (2003), obese children rated their quality of life with scores as low as those of young cancer patients on chemotherapy. In the study, 106 children aged 5 to 18 filled out a questionnaire used by pediatricians to evaluate quality of life issues. Children were asked to rate things like their ability to walk more than one block, play sports, sleep well, get along with others and keep up in school. The results indicated that that teasing at school, difficulties playing sports, fatigue, sleep apnea and other obesity-linked problems severely affected obese children's well-being. Interestingly, parents answered the same questionnaires, and their ratings of their children's wellbeing were even lower than the children's self-ratings (Marcus, Baron).

How can we prevent this?

We can work to prevent this by educating the children about why exercising is good for them and ways they can eat healthy and make wise choices. Giving them somewhere to have fun while doing so is just the icing on the cake. The new park will have more and better equipment and it will tailor to toddlers, school age children, preteens, teenagers, and adults. It will have some equipment and a tiny sandbox for toddlers. Swings, see-saws, slides, and a tree-house will be for school age children and preteens.

There will be a dirt track around the playground area for running, biking, and racing when there is no one else using the playground area for teenagers and adults. The community center would have an exercise room, gymnasium, dance room, and swimming pool. The community center is for everyone. There will be classes held that are tailored to the ages of the people most likely to attend. Getting and keeping the neighborhood to live a healthy lifestyle will be emphasized throughout. I'm not really sure about costs, but I'm pretty sure it could cost anywhere between 50,00075,000 dollars to build a new playground and community center. But we could raise revenue by charging reasonable prices for using the exercise room, dance room, and swimming pool. We could raise this money by hosting bake sales, car washes, garage sales, accepting donations, and lots of other things. We just need the motivation and to open our eyes and hearts to the change.

Works Cited
Brown, Pei-San, John A. Sutterby, and Candra D. Thornton. "Combating Childhood Obesity With Physical Play Opportunities." Ptotoday.com. PTO Today, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/67-combating-childhood-obesitywith-physical-play-opportunities>. "Facts about Physical Activity." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 07 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/facts.html>. Marcus, Lauren, and Amanda Baron. "Childhood Obesity: The Effects on Physical and Mental Health." Aboutourkids.org. NYU Child Study Center, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/childhood_obesity_effects_physical_mental_healt h>. Qazi, Hammad Ali. "Childhood Obesity and Parks and Playgrounds: A Review of Issues of Equality, Gender and Social Support." Journal of Research in Medical Sciences16.4 (2011): 553-58. National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. n.d. 07 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3214362/>. Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Childhood Obesity: Causes." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 04 May 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhoodobesity/DS00698/DSECTION%3Dcauses>.

Woodson Community Center & Neighborhood Park

Before

Children need somewhere to go where they can have fun, but be healthy at the same time.

With the addition of a new neighborhood and community center, the children will have

somewhere to go that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

The new community center could also be adult friendly; there's an exercise room for both men and women and weekly classes can also be held for additional workouts in other categories.

After