Stakeholders' solution to the obesity crisis

The rapid growth of obesity has significantly affected adults and children. Obesity prevention strategies were implemented in schools to assist children with making healthy food choices, and to eliminate less healthy foods from schools' cafeteria. This study was conducted to obtain stakeholders perception on childhood obesity. A purposive sampling procedure was employed to recruit teachers, principals, school nurses, and food service directors from selected rural schools. Structured interviews were conducted using questions developed and validated by the research team, to determine stakeholders' knowledge and possible solutions to childhood obesity. Responses were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using Atlas Ti. Two or more similar responses were determined to be a theme. Participants indicated that parental education and involvement, food preparation skills in the home, modification of school meals, and more outdoor activity may be effective in reducing the incidences of childhood obesity. Findings indicated that knowledge on food and nutrition skills were limited among parents and guardians. The stakeholders shared the belief that nutrition education programs should be shared between the homes and schools to assist students in making better food choices away from home. Although nutrition policy was mandated for all schools, some stakeholders were unaware of the policy at their facility. Funding for this was made possible by Grant Support from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities NCMHD Grant #1P20MD0002295‐02 TAMU & PVAMU Collaborative Research Project.