RAFFLES INSTITUTION

RESEARCH EDUCATION

2011

DESIGN FOR CHANGE

Topic: Educating Primary School Pupils

about Obesity in Children

Team Leader: Deon Kiew (12) 2K

Team Members: Ng Chek Guan (18) 2K

Aaron Phuay (20) 2K

Bryan Ong (2) 2K

Content Page:

The Chapters of CHANGE

Change?---------------------------------------------3

How? Why?-----------------------------------------5

Answers----------------------------------------------8

Next time…------------------------------------------9

Graduation and Experience--------------------10

Annex 1: Survey-----------------------------------11

Annex 2: Proposal to Tao Nan-----------------12

Annex 3: Powerpoint presentation-------------14

Chapter 1: Change? (Did We?)

Tier 1: Design for Change

The team, before we do anything else, must confess this. We did not want the Design for

Change initiative to be our RE for this year. However, as much as we hated the project at

first, over time, we came to love it.

Design for Change started out 2 years ago in India, as a platform for children to be the

catalyst of change in India’s developing society. It is the result of the children’s initiative that

this project has grown to a worldwide event.

In Singapore, the emphasis is for students to go beyond donating to the poor, and actively

stepping out to help our society. Thus, it is with this objective in mind that we set out to work

on DfC.

Tier 2: Ideas

It was slightly unsettling for us that our first setback came so early. In the eagerness to

change, the four of us ran away from realism. We had some ideas that were just unrealistic,

illogical or unfeasible. One idea that stood out was that of creating sheltered linkways. We

honestly believed that we would have the budget for it, and when we realized how difficult it

would be, we had already wasted a lot of time. Thus, we settled on a scope of simple but

meaningful projects, to ensure we do not get caught in such a situation again.

Tier 3: Defiance

We spent one whole month trying to come up with ideas, sometimes meeting for hours at

end. For some reason or another, the meetings usually ended up with a blank sheet of paper,

and our notebooks scribbled with various comments on how nothing got done. For every

good idea, there was a veto. Somebody would be defiant, refuse to cooperate, and until we

could find a common goal, there was no way we could settle the divide.

The common goal came when the team leader went to train Tao Nan in debating as his own

voluntary work. After the session, he was inspired to do something more for his alma mater.

We found one thing in common about us at that point of time—we were all fiercely loyal. We

were thus able to narrow the scope even further.

Tier 4: Waking up

At the point of time where we narrowed the scope to primary schools, we had already spent

a good 3 weeks or so not doing anything. Thus, with time against us, we went into severe

overdrive. There was the possibility of hosting an assembly programme, which was quickly

supported by all sides.

Our target audience was 3 schools at first, but that was quickly shortened down to one

school due to time circumstances. We then sent a proposal to Tao Nan, our target school, to

consider.

Tier 5: Every plan needs a backup

The one thing that we needed that we didn’t have was a contingency plan. On hindsight, that

was a very bad move. Our project was dependent on the school’s approval. If they decided

to not take us, we had no backup. That was a failure on your end, and really, we came close

to not being able to complete the project. But at that point of time, there was no longer any

doubt on whether we can pull it off. It was no longer ―Change?‖ but ―Change!‖

Chapter 2: How? Why? (Method)

Tier 1: Evolution

But before we could go to do an assembly programme, we had to get some background

information and research regarding obesity. So we did.

Background Research:

Causes of Obesity:

Environmental Causes

In view of the sudden rise in weight levels - which is a worldwide trend as reflected in the

new word "globesity" - environmental factors must be the prime cause of modern obesity.

Genetic Reasons

Families share common dietary, physical exercise, attitude and lifestyle habits that may also

contribute to obesity.

Parental behavioral patterns concerning shopping, cooking, eating and exercise, have an

important influence on a child's energy balance and ultimately their weight. Thus family diet

and lifestyle are important contributory causes to modern child obesity, especially at a time

of rising affluence. Since obese children and adolescents frequently grow up to become

obese adults, it's clear that family influence also extends to adult obesity.

More children today are overweight or obese than ever before. "Overweight" means that the

individual weighs more than is recommended for a given height; when this excess weight is

in the form of fat, health problems may develop. "Obesity" is an excess of body fat. In

children obesity has been variously defined as

1. >=20% over the recommended weight for height;

2. >=85th percentile for Body Mass Index

3. >=25% of weight as fat for boys and >=30% of weight as fat for girls .

This is of particular concern because body weight and overfatness in children are significant

cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Those who are more active are less likely to deposit fat in the abdominal(stomach) area.

Physical activity is thus a key element in the prevention and treatment of obesity.

In addition, obese children often experience exclusion from social groups and low self-

esteem.

Eating Too Many High-Fat or Refined Sugary Foods

The type of food eaten may also play an important role in the rise of obesity. These eating

patterns are known to interfere with food and energy metabolism in the body, and cause

excessive fat storage. Associated health disorders include insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes

as well as obesity. Incidence of these "modern" diseases is increasing worldwide.

Overconsumption - A Possible Root Cause

Eating too many calories for our enery needs must be a major candidate for the main cause

of the modern obesity epidemic

Reduced Energy Expenditure - A Possible Root Cause

People who eat more calories need to burn more calories, otherwise their calorie surplus is

stored as fat. For example, if we eat 100 more food calories a day than we burn, we gain

about 1 pound in a month. That’s about 10 pounds in a year. Over two decades this energy

surplus causes a weight gain of 200 pounds!

Solutions:

Prevention could be the solution. This includes prevention of weight regains following weight

loss, and avoidance of more weight increase in obese persons unable to lose weight. Until

now, most approaches have focused on changing the behaviour of individuals in diet and

exercise.

Tier 2: Thesis

Before we could ensure that we knew what we were going to talk about, we had to go

understand the knowledge of our target audience. We created surveys we would

subsequently distribute to our target audience, the Primary 1 and 2 students, to assess their

prior knowledge on the main topic of our project – childhood obesity. The results, as detailed

later, proved that our project was justified, most of the cohort we surveyed possessing

inadequate or almost no background knowledge on the consequences and methods of

prevention of childhood obesity. Then, using these results, we constructed a PowerPoint

presentation to cater to the gaps in the students’ knowledge on the subject, placing more

emphasis on the negative side effects of obesity and what they could do to prevent this

problem.

Tier 3: Hypothesis

We had no hypothesis. Rather we had more of a goal to accomplish. Our goal was to

educate. Be it one school, or a whole community, if we educate one student, he can educate

others. It is a chain reaction. But we want to be the catalyst.

Tier 4: Observing through their eyes

The observations from the survey were quite astonishing. For question 1 ( Do you know

what obesity is?) the overwhelming response was ―No‖, with 97% answering that. That was

the only response that we predicted correctly. Whereas whilst we thought students know

how to exercise, eventually it became quite obvious they did not.

Tier 5: Doing a Skit

After receiving confirmation from the school that we would be allowed to conduct our project

and were allocated a suitable timeslot for this, we went to the school itself during one of their

assembly periods to conduct our project, which consisted of two parts: a talk and an

interactive session to show the students how they could lose weight. The talk itself consisted

of an educational presentation, as mentioned earlier (refer to Annex 3), and a short skit

performed by seniors of the target school, warning of the detrimental effects of obesity. This

choice of cast would be justified by the fact that many of the students knew their seniors and

look up to them, and would boost our credibility. Also, we also organized an interactive

exercise session to teach the students which kinds of exercises are convenient yet have

large benefits to their fitness (i.e. weight).

Chapter 3: Answers

Part 1: Survey

Our survey was 2-pronged. One group was given the survey before the programme, while

the other group was given the survey afterwards. The results from the first survey shows that

not many students knew what obesity was, or knew how to effectively counter obesity. Our

goal of course, was for more people to understand what obesity was. In this respect, we

have succeeded. The results conclusively show that we have successfully managed to

educate them in our own way.

For the first question, while there was an overwhelming majority who didn’t know what

obesity was, by the end, a clear majority knew what obesity was. More importantly, more

people promised that they would exercise to stay fit.

Part 2: Programme

The assembly programme in itself was a success. We had a lot of fun, and so did both the

actors and the students. Also, we achieved our aim of education, and are comforted by the

knowledge that one person can actually make a big difference.

Chapter 5: Next time…

(Limitations and Problems)

Tier 1: Bad timing

The first problem was, of course, our time management. Towards the end of the project, we

were really rushing for time. We should have had much more time. We rushed a proposal to

Tao Nan and they replied quite late, so if we had gave them the proposal earlier it would

have been better for the team.

Tier 2: Announcing

We also did not inform each other on the doings and development of our research. This

came in fundamentally later, after we created 2 separate proposals and 2 separate

powerpoints. This created strains within our team. Procrastinations also let to a split in our

team. However, it is credit to the team that they managed to pull through and work together,

but this split shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Tier 3: Decisions

Some decisions we made was quite irrational. For example, we went to Tao Nan on cooling

off Day of the Presidential Elections, basically wasting a trip, which could be spent

fundamentally developing our project. Something minor, but many minor things lead to

something extremely major.

Chapter 5: Graduation

and Experience

(Conclusion) At the end of the day, we believe in change. We all

changed lives. We changed ourselves. That’s what we

feel is most important. We feel that we have hopefully

changed the lives of others, and we have given back to

our alma mater in the process. As the seniors, with the

responsibilities to help our juniors. To that end, we

succeeded. That’s really all that matters.

SURVEY OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Hi. We are your brothers from Secondary School and we need your help! :) We will be doing an assembly programme for you but we need you to answer these questions and return this to your form teacher. Thanks! use a few minutes of your time to fill in the survey. Names and Classes are confidential and optional.

Q1. Do you know what OBESITY is?

Yes ___

No ___

Q2. Do you know what being fat mean?

Yes __

No ___

Q3. Do you know how to not get fat? If so, how?

Yes ____ (How? ___________________) No ____

Q4.Do you exercise?

Yes ___

No ____

Q5. What type of exercise ?

Q6. (Only given when Programme was over) Did we help you understand how to stay healthy?

Yes! _____

A bit. _____

No ______

THANKS!:D

RAFFLES INSTITUTION

Year 2 Design for Change Initiative 2011

‘Keeping Fit’ Primary School Assembly Programme

By: Deon Kiew

Aaron Phuay

Ng Chek Guan

Bryan Ong

PROPOSAL- Tao Nan School

Overview:

On Raffles and the DfC Programme:

Design for Change is the largest global movement designed to give children an opportunity

to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action.

Design for Change Singapore is being managed by SoCh in Action, a social enterprise that

focuses on creating opportunities for people to be involved in social change around them.

As a strong supporter of social change, Raffles Institution adopted Design for Change in

2010 as one of the options for Year 2 Research Education. After strong support for the

programme, the school has decided to continue this initiative for 2011

On our role in DfC, and the ‘Keeping Fit’ Initiative:

As Year 2 Students participating in DfC, we aim to spread messages of change. We believe

that habits should be cultivated from a young age and we wish to spread the message of

Keeping Healthy and fit to our juniors, for they will one day be a role model for their family,

and possibly their employees and their subordinates. As such, grasping responsibility for

their own lifestyle is what we feel to be one of the most important factors in determining

one’s image to others. Also, having a responsible lifestyle will lead to health benefits and we

wish to cultivate such habits in them from young. As seniors who will eventually pass on the

mantle of leadership to these children, we feel it our responsibility to help students with

understanding the necessity to stay healthy. Furthermore, some of our members are

actually alma maters of the school, and it is our duty to contribute back to the school which

has nurtured us.

SO WHAT DO WE INTEND TO DO?

Our Primary Targets are Students from the Lower Primary Section. This is because we feel

that these students are most receptive to ideas, and we can have a more lasting impression

over them. As such, we have designed our presentation ( which we will send if you express

interest in the proposal), to be very child-friendly, and we have engaged the help of

teachers to ensure that we do not sound overly complicated.

Because of our use of a PowerPoint presentation, we would prefer if the assembly program

could take place in the school hall. We can, however, modify our program should the hall be

unavailable for the day. Should our normal program take place, we will have a presentation,

basic Warm-Up session and Finally a Q&A. The program is not expected to last any more

than 45 minutes. We are currently exploring the possibility of requesting that Primary 6

students act a skit in replacement of the Warm- Up session for Tao Nan. As the Group

Leader is also the Debate Coach for the school, he will be talking to Mrs Ng Den Mui about

the possibility of asking his debate students to help out in the assembly program.

Do note that our program is not set in stone, and we are always receptive to new ideas.

Should you have any suggestions, do feel free to contact us via email or SMS. For example, if

you wish that we have a separate program for upper primary school students as well, do let

us know.

Our contact numbers are as follows:

Deon Kiew (Overall Leader) 90033328 deonkiew@gmail.com

Bryan Ong Junyu 85002603 bryanong1997@yahoo.com.sg

Ng Chek Guan 82287080 justng97@gmail.com

Phuay Zhan Hui, Aaron 90402362 aaronphuay@yahoo.com.sg