From the College of Nursing Annual Report
Snethen Tackling Health Problems Stemming from Poor Fitness
Inactivity and poor diet are poised to overtake smoking as our nation’s most rapidly growing health threat. Julia Snethen, assistant professor of nursing, is poised to make a difference for children in Milwaukee’s African American and Hispanic communities. Snethen is developing obesity prevention programs for children in Milwaukee’s poorest areas.
While the general causes of being overweight – poor diet and inactivity – may be identical in all communities, specific local factors stand in the way of successfully addressing the problem. In collaboration with Professor Rachel Schiffman, PhD, RN, FAAN, associate dean for research, and Lorraine Phillips, coordinator of the Parent-Child Interaction Program at the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, Snethen developed an obesity prevention program for preschoolers that is being presented at the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center. The center serves families from the Westlawn Housing Development and the surrounding northwest side community. Through the program, families are provided specific strategies to eat healthier and exercise more. For example, the program emphasizes eating plenty of unprocessed fruits and vegetables, since Snethen’s earlier research showed that the limited produce children ate were often prepared with sauces and butter.
Snethen’s research was developed during her participation in the Maternal-Child Health Leadership Academy sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International and the Johnson & Johnson Corporation, and was funded by a research grant from the Eta Nu chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, and a Harriet H. Werley Faculty Research Award.
In a separate study with a focus group of children in Milwaukee’s Latino community, Snethen found specific barriers children believed came between them and physical activity. These included lack of transportation and the high cost of organized sports programs. This Environmental Justice study was one of several federally funded projects that explored health disparities due to environmental factors. Snethen and colleagues – Professors David Petering (Chemistry) and Associate Professor Jeanne Hewitt (Nursing) also found that many neighborhoods were not safe to play in and that parents were too busy to fix healthy meals.
Today, 20 to 30 percent of Wisconsin’s children are overweight. Compared to average-weight children, they tend to perform worse at school, have lower self esteem and become sick more often. Immediate health concerns for the overweight child include an increased risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and abnormal glucose tolerance levels – conditions that cost billions of dollars to treat annually.
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