Lifestyle Changes

For people in China, the introduction of cheap, high calorie fast food, the desire to become "Westernized," cultivation of a palate for western food, the influence of restaurant advertising, more disposable income for eating out, and fast food advertising ~ are but a few of the likely culprits in the Chinese obesity epidemic.

Although traditional Chinese diets are both nutrient dense and healthy, many young people are choosing to eat out rather than eat at home.

In the United States, young people have been the "canaries in the coal mine" among the first to show symptoms of overweight or obesity. Now China is experiencing obesity among its youth.

While Chinese students have a lifestyle that includes plenty of "seat time" as they learn and study for exams and work hard on their lessons in school, spending time in physical activity and exercise (an hour a day), will be one of the take home messages of our project.

Our nursing education and research team has examined the literature on obesity, and the data is clear: to be effective, lifestyle modification is needed. The focus of our project is bigger than simply reducing pounds in a population at risk. We hope that the Chinese youth will be inspired to make permanent changes in their lifestyle.

The intervention we have chosen is based upon the work of many nursing and public health experts in the United States. For example, one expert who has pioneered similar programs in the state of Washington is Dr. Ruth Bindler, RN. She has shown remarkable success through programs that she has co-created and that are designed to get kids moving after school and on weekends. Her work and writing is published in a number of national journals, and PS Dr. Bindler is a former nursing colleague of mine from Washington State ~ and I know her personally and professionally. She is passionate about both the need for exercise and that exercise is fun and revivifying.

We will enter the public school system in Guangzhou and co-create, with the Chinese nurses, a fun and vigorous after school program that combines exercise and information about sensible eating and balanced lifestyle changes.

We will measure the success of our intervention by the usual (height, weight) and see if there is a difference in BMI ~ body mass index~ and blood pressure~ throughout the intervention. In addition, we are experimenting with a few other instruments designed to measure feelings about exercise and feelings about self after exercise. We are considering a diary or journal to examine themes about self-feelings at the beginning, middle, and end of the project.

To be truly effective, our program should be sustainable. We are hoping for a continuation of support for the intervention ~ year after year~ extending our long-standing partnership between Jinan University and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.