Supporting Childhood Obesity in Schools

A Guidebook for 'Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray'

Plum Hutton, Kate Rennie

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000575989
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

This guidebook, designed to be used alongside the storybook Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray, has been created to inform readers about the physical, social and psychological impacts of childhood obesity.

Created for busy parents, teachersand professionals, this book is founded upon recent research and written in an engaging and accessible style. Chapters explain the surprisingly complex causes of childhood obesity and highlight that children often have little control over the factors that may lead them to become obese. The physical and psychological consequences of obesity are explored and strategies suggested, ranging from individual and family support to changes that need to be made at a societal level to tackle this significant public health issue.

Key features include:

• an accessible guide to childhood obesity

• chapter-by-chapter discussion points for use with Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray to encourage open and honest conversations about childhood obesity and its effects

• strategies to support obese children and their families to sustain positive lifestyle changes.

This is an essential resource for parents, teachers and other professionals looking to understand childhood obesity and support children aged 8–12.

1. Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781003207931-1

This guide is intended to be used with the storybook Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray , which is an adventure where the protagonist has difficulties due to being obese. The story is likely to appeal to children approximately 8–12 years old. It explores some of the issues faced by pupils who have difficulties with their weight. This includes finding it hard to join in with the physical activities enjoyed by many of their peers, as well as psychological impacts such as social isolation and low mood. Reasons why a child might become obese are highlighted, as well as the challenges involved in trying to make positive lifestyle changes. This practical information is delivered via a fun and adventurous story set in the beautiful, prickly and, at times, dangerous landscape of East Africa.

A Note on the Language Used in this Guide

Obesity is a sensitive subject because it feels very personal to comment on someone’s weight. The storybook includes some frank descriptions of an obese child. The portrayal is not intended to make fun of obese children or to judge them. Instead, the aim is to raise awareness of the scale of the issue and the serious psychological and physical impact that obesity can have on children’s lives. Therefore, it is argued that it is important to be able to discuss childhood obesity openly and to provide support for children who would like to make positive changes in their lives.

While efforts have been made to provide accurate information in this guide, it is acknowledged that a wide range of research into childhood obesity is continuing to be conducted. Hence, readers are advised to keep up to date with new findings and recommendations.

Synopsis of Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray

This synopsis may be helpful for adults using this guide who have not yet had the opportunity to read the storybook.

After the sudden death of his mother, 11-year-old Wesley MacKay flies to Kenya to live with his father, Pete. Wesley has never met his father because his parents separated before he was born. Pete is a sergeant in the British Army and he is currently working in Kenya. For Wesley, it is a tremendous shock to lose his mother, move to East Africa and try to forge a relationship with his father. For Pete, it is a shock to discover that he has a son and that he has to take on the role of father when he has no experience of looking after children. The situation is complicated by the fact that Wesley is clinically obese, which sets him apart from his father and the other children at his new school, who are all physically fit and spend much of their time outdoors.

Wesley meets his new classmates, who include Isla Foster (the daughter of Pete’s boss) and a boy called Simon. Isla is kind to him, but Wesley takes an immediate dislike to Simon, who appears to be clever, sporty and popular. Wesley is assessed by an army nurse who explains that he urgently needs to lose weight for the sake of his health. So Pete and Wesley endure a trip to the supermarket where Pete endeavours to buy healthy food and Wesley loses his temper. Luckily, they bump into Anna, Isla’s mother, who intervenes and plans to take Wesley on a picnic by a river the following day. Wesley is reluctant to go. He wants to be left alone and is frightened of the river. He is surprised to find that he has a good time and loves seeing the Kenyan wildlife. He opens up to Isla and Anna about his life with his mother. He realises that he would like to be able to join in with activities that he can’t do because of his obesity and resolves to try to change his lifestyle.

Anna researches childhood obesity and discovers, that in countries where high-energy food is easily available, the majority of the population is at risk of becoming overweight unless they actively take steps to avoid it. Anna resolves to support Wesley and makes a plan to help him to start taking more exercise and to eat more healthily. She encourages Wesley to walk to school, which initially does not go well. Wesley feels very low; he is homesick, grieving for his mother and struggling to adapt to his new diet.

Wesley’s class begin planning their end-of-year trip, and Simon suggests climbing Mount Kenya. This would involve five days of high-altitude walking, and Wesley is currently struggling to walk the short distance to school. Wesley picks an argument with Simon and in a fit of anger tells everyone that he is going to climb Mount Kenya.

Wesley and Pete are supported by the Foster family and Anna makes a ‘Mount Kenya Plan’ with Wesley. It is really tough at first, but Wesley gradually starts building up his fitness and the other children at the school support him. Anna teaches Wesley how to cook. After several months, Pete, Wesley and the MacKays do a practice walk up a mountain that can be climbed in just one day. Wesley finds the walk tiring but copes quite well. The party are caught in torrential rain on their return home and the track collapses beneath their vehicle, rolling the Land Rover upside down. They escape from the vehicle as it fills with flood water, but Anna is badly shaken up. Wesley is glad to be able to comfort her and is buzzing with his walking achievement and adventures.

The teachers hold a meeting for parents to discuss the details of the Mount Kenya trip. Wesley encounters Mr Morgan, Simon’s father, who is rude and implies that Wesley will ruin the trip for everyone. Wesley realises that he has misjudged Simon. His father is a bully and Simon is frightened of him.

The children set off on their trip up Mount Kenya and strengthen their friendships through the shared experience. The days are beautiful and the nights camping on the mountain are bitterly cold. On the last night before they attempt to reach the summit, Simon appears to be befuddled, but the others are so cold and tired that they don’t notice. They wake before dawn and begin climbing to the summit in the dark, aiming to reach the top at sunrise. Simon is trudging ahead of Wesley when he becomes confused and takes the wrong path. He has altitude sickness but is determined to continue so that he does not disappoint his father. Wesley follows, trying to stop him, and they both fall off the path down a huge precipice. This is not noticed by the rest of the party until they reach the summit and realise that the two boys are missing.

Wesley comes to in the dark, feeling very bruised and sprawled at the bottom of the scree slope. Simon is lying face down in a small lake. Wesley manages to revive him, but Simon has a head injury, a broken arm, is wet and dangerously cold. Wesley tries to keep Simon warm and alert. Wesley talks about his life with his mother and how she suffered from depression and disappeared one evening. The police found her body in a river. When it gets light, Wesley helps Simon back to their campsite and a helicopter takes both boys to hospital in Nairobi. Simon’s father initially blames Wesley for Simon’s accident, but later realises that Wesley has actually saved his son’s life. Wesley returns to school a hero.

The Main Messages in the Story

• The causes of childhood obesity are surprisingly complex. In many countries, there is now easy availability of high-energy food, which is often high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. This, alongside other factors such as genetic susceptibility, mental health issues and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, has left many people at risk of obesity, unless they actively take steps to avoid it.
• Children typically become obese because of decisions made by the adults in their lives, which in turn are influenced by the culture of the country.
• The risk of children becoming obese may be exacerbated by issues such as loneliness, bullying, depression, bereavement, illness, injury, poor cooking habits and poverty.
• Children who are obese have a significantly increased risk of ill health and psychological problems.
• Making lifestyle changes such as improved diet and increased levels of exercise can have a big impact on childhood obesity. However, making such changes can be tough, especially at first.
• Family, friends, school staff and the wider community can greatly support a child with obesity. Friendships and taking part in social activities are likely to support the young person’s mental health and improve their activity levels.
• Setting realistic goals and being supported to achieve those goals may engender a sense of pride and determination. It is acknowledged, however, that Wesley’s decision to climb Mount Kenya was a rashly ambitious goal.

2. Understanding Childhood Obesity

DOI: 10.4324/9781003207931-2

What Is Childhood Obesity?

Obesity in children has become a worldwide concern, with more and more children being classified as obese across many nations. It no longer affects only high-income countries: according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021a), in 2019 over 38 million children under the age of five years old were classed as overweight or obese worldwide. Almost half of these children live in Asia. In Africa, there has been a 24% increase in children who are overweight in the last 20 years.

The UK government’s Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action (HM Government, 2017) states that an estimated one-third of children aged between two and 15 years of age are overweight or obese. This has significant long-term implications for their personal health, as well as other far-reaching effects. Children are becoming obese at a younger age than before and are remaining obese for longer.

There are many ways of describing the concept of obesity, some much more complex than others. A good, simple definition is given by the Childhood Obesity Foundation (2019), where obesity is defined as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health’. A measure of obesity that has traditionally been used for adults is Body Mass Index (BMI), which enables a person’s height-to-weight ratio to be evaluated. The calculation is weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in metres) squared. The agreed cut-off for being classed as obese is a BMI of 30 or over, with a BMI of 32 or over being categorised as morbidly obese. A high BMI score indicates that the body has stored more fat than expected for a healthy life.

The focus of this guide is on children, rather than the adult population. Although BMI is used for children, it isn’t quite as clear-cut as it is for adults, as children are still growing. Therefore, their age needs to be considered as well as their weight and height. Children’s levels of body fat should alter with their growth and development. For example, additional body fat is laid down before puberty in preparation for the associated growth spurt.

It is expected that children will become heavier as they grow taller. If their weight is increasing faster than their height, they are likely to become overweight or obese. Growth charts are used to measure this, and most parents will be familiar with these growth charts as they’re used in the child health record books (red books) to record babies’ weights in the first few months of their lives. There are charts designed for specific age ranges, for both boys and girls, as their expected increases in weight and height do differ slightly. The charts used in the UK are based on the WHO child growth standards charts (WHO, 2021b). Obesity based on these charts is measured using a cut-off value, although these values vary between countries. For exampl...