Healthy Meal Prepping for Busy Families

Pomponi 1

Lisa Pomponi

Rowan University

Executive Summary/Abstract

Healthy Meal Prepping for Busy Families is a program that is based on preparing healthy meals for their families instead of spending money on fast foods or take outs. This program will be at Future Fitness in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. It is a program that teaches families about portion sizes, and how to prepare a balance meal. This program will have them plan out all their meals in the beginning of the week and cooking everything a head of time, and each day they will take out their meals and all they have to do will reheat the food. This will save them time on having to worry about what to make and during the week when running around it will save them time preparing. Just heat it up and eat!

Since we are having these meetings in the gym itself, we are targeting families who are already trying to live a healthy lifestyle by exercising. Eating healthy will help them stay on track of their goals. This program will work for those who are committed in making a change in their eating habits. It will be evaluated after the program, and six months after the program to see if participants are staying on track. A survey will be giving at the beginning of the program to test their knowledge and then at the end to see how much they have learned.

Rationale

A rationale for the development of Meal Prepping: A program to enhance the Health of Busy Families of Mullica Hill, New Jersey. Families are spending too much money eating out, then they are staying home and preparing their food ahead of time. Nearly a third of the U.S food dollar is spent on eating out services (Food Prices and Spending, April 16, 2016). With that one-third that is spent, it is mostly going towards fast food restaurants. The fast food industry holds about seventy-seven percent of that one-third that is spent (Statistics and facts about the Fast Food Industry). Not only is eating unhealthy, but it also cause other health factors such as: heart disease or diabetes. More than thirty-five percent of adults are considered obese between the years 2011-2012 (The State of Obesity, June 2016). Childhood obesity has doubled in the past thirty years (Childhood Obesity Facts, June 24, 2016), this is not because kids are buying their own foods, it is because parent do not have the time to properly prepare healthie meals for their children and as a result they eat out.

The proposed solution is to teach busy families how to properly prepare healthy meals for their families for the week. This program will teach those parents who run around all day working, taking their children to practice, or just trying to find time to go to the gym to properly prepare healthy meals a reduce the number of times they eat out. This program will teach them the nutritional information of the foods they consume and also teach them about portion control. If they can spend one day cooking all the food they will eat for one week and organizing it into containers, they will successfully save time during the week because their food is already cooked and ready to be eaten. They may just need to heat it up.

This program will be able to gain a better quality of life, and be able to teach them about portion control. This program will also help decrease the amount obese people, decrease heart disease, and decrease diabetes. This program will be successful because they take out the guessing about what they are going to eat at night, when their food is already prepared for them days prior.

Needs of Assessment

A survey was handed out to the members to test their knowledge on nutrition and portion sizes. The group that I sampled were parents who have busy schedule and with children who also go to the gym. The survey showed that 50% did not know what a portion size was. 20% could not even name the different food groups. Surveys were handed out for two weeks and when members walked in they were ask to take a small survey and if they were interested in participating in the program. 60% of those who took the survey said they would take part in the meetings and will be able to make it on Wednesday evenings. The link between what members know and what the program is offering is that it will be beneficial to them to live a healthy lifestyle.

Goals and Objective

Goal #1- Increase the overall knowledge of participants on nutrition

1st process objective- require 90% attendance to weekly meetings

Evaluation- There will be a sign in sheet during the 8 week program.

2nd process objective- Have the participants to take pictures of their meals each day.

Evaluation- Create a folder where they can take pictures with their phones and upload it for everyone to see what others are making. They will be able to share healthy recipes they have found.

1st impact objective- At the end of the program they will be able to successfully create a healthy meal for their family and limit the amount of money they spend eating out.

Evaluation- They will be ask to take a small quiz at the end to see if their knowledge on nutrition has increase.

2nd impact evaluation- At the end of the program they will be able to share what they have learned from the program and to see if they will be able to continue this in the future.

Evaluation- A follow up call will be done to see how each participant is doing and to see if they are continuing their meal prepping.

1st outcome objective- Participants will have increase knowledge and overall health.

Evaluation- Prior to the program they will take a small quiz to see what resources they have and what type of knowledge they have on nutrition and what is in the food they eat.

2nd outcome objective- Families will show less health risk, and save more money.

Evaluation-The families will be asked at the end of the program to see how they are feeling. If they are feeling any better.

Goal #2- To properly prepare healthy meals for themselves, and their families

1st process objective- require 90% attendance to weekly meetings

Evaluation- There will be a sign in sheet during the 8 week program.

2nd process objective-Participates will be able to learn new and easy healthy recipes to try.

Evaluation- Follow up on participates to see if they are trying new recipes.

1st impact objective-Participates will be to share recipes and new ideas on what to make.

Evaluation-A Facebook group page where participates can share their ideas and ask questions.

2nd impact evaluation-Participates will take pictures of their meal they have created.

Evaluation- Using the group page, we can see how each participate is progressing.

1st outcome objective-Participate will increase their knowledge and be able to prepare a healthy meals for a week.

Evaluation- An assessment will be taken to see the progression of each participant

2nd outcome evaluation- Participates will have a better understanding preparing a meal and how to have a balance of ingredients.

Evaluation- participants will complete a questionnaire on their success of the program and to see if it was helpful.

My selective audience would include busy on-the-go families, and single individuals who already go to the gym. The data I would be collecting would come from a survey prior to starting the program to see what kind of lifestyle they lead and how often they eat out. Data will be collected from the target audience. Selecting the sample from the feedback I get from the surveys, will help me to determine who would benefit the most from this program. Each person who participates in the program will keep a log and keep a schedule of when they will prepare their food. Data will be analyzed prior to the program, in the middle, and then at the end to see if there was any improvements.

Data Collected

From the data I collected, I was able to get 20 people to respond to my survey. Out of those 20 people, 15 of them have a husband and children, the other 5 are single adults who have full time jobs. Out of the 15 people who are married with children, 10 of them said they eat out between 4-5 times a weeks. The 5 single adults all said they eat out at least 5 times a week. When asked why they do not prepare their own meals, they all said ‘lack of time.’ All these participants go to the gym at least 3 days a week and think health is important. If these participants can schedule an hour or two one day a week to prepare all their meals then they will be able to save time and money have a better quality of life. They will measure their food out by using storage containers. The objective of overall is to live a healthier lifestyle through exercise and eating healthy, is logging 3 days a week of physical activity during the course of 10 weeks. Also, limiting the amount of times they eat out to a maximum of 2 times a week for the 10 week program.

Each participant will be ask to keep a log of when they exercise, when they go out to eat, and keep a food diary to see if they are actually making the changes. This will help me to determine what changes need to be made in order to make sure this program is a success. After the 10 week program is over, hopefully they will have made this a habit and continue to eat healthier and decide to make the change to have a better quality of life.

Program Description and Theory Base

The theory that will work best for this program would be the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). This program will work best because it is based on the stages of change. We are working on trying to change the way families are eating and how we can change them to have healthier lifestyles. In this theory, it includes the stages or change, the processes of change, the pros and cons of changing, self-efficacy, and temptations. These all have to deal with changing our eating habits. Some people may as why is changing my eating habits a good thing? When it comes to eating we are all faced with different temptations, eating healthy is hard when you see our favorite dessert there and you have to decide to eat it or grab that piece of fruit.

My audience are busy families who do not have time to prepare healthy meals and it is a result of eating out too much. These families are work with children and who also go to the gym. I wanted to do this program with parents who already go to the gym because that means they are already taking a step to getting healthier.

The facility I will be conducting this program is Future Fitness in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. This facility is a full size gym that includes: weight machines, free weights, cardio equipment, pool, sauna, aerobic studios, and conference rooms. There is enough room for a group of people to sit in a room and be able to discuss how to properly prepare healthy meals in advance.

A sample of a lesson that will be taught would be explaining and showing what portions look like. Pintables will be handed out to give them a guideline of what a portion of carbs is. It will give you samples of how much chicken you should eat by common household items that everyone knows. Everyone knows what a deck of cards is….that is 3 ounces of chicken or meat that can be eaten. I will give them sample of what your plate should look like at every meal. It will show what portion of the plate should be vegetables, protein, and starch.

Constructs and their applications:

Precontemplation: Those who are in this stage would not be in the program because they do not feel like they need to change.

Contemplation: This is where most of the people who are in the program are. They realize they have a program and are willing to make the change to fix it. By showing up and are willing to participate, they are already to make a change to living a healthier lifestyle.

Preparation: They are actively involved in the program. Invoicing their opinions and willing to make changes in their eating. They will being to buy healthier foods, and limit the amount of times they eat out. They also stop buying junk foods.

Action: They are making the changes to their eating habits and are rarely eating fast foods or eating unhealthy foods. They are taking action in making this a lifestyle change.

Maintenance: They will continue their healthy eating and meal prepping even after the program. It has now become a habit for them and they are seeing the benefits of the change. They are healthier and hopefully they do not go into a relapse.

Marketing Plan

Product

The product I am offering is a program on meal prepping. This program will help busy families learn how to prepare health meals for their families when they do not have the time to do so. This will limit the amount of time eating fast foods.

Promotion

This program will be market through the gym. It will include flyers around the facility to promote healthy lifestyle. It will also be mention to new members when they are signing up as an extra thing that the gym is offering. Flyers will look like this.

LEARN HOW TO MEAL PREP HEALTHIER OPTIONS FOR YOUR FAMILY

LEARN NEW HEALTHY RECIPES

SAVE MONEY ON EATING OUT

SAVE TIME COOKING EVERY NIGHT

HANDS ON ACTIVITIES

HEALHY SNACKS AVAILBLE

WHERE: FUTURE FITNESS OF MULLICA HILL IN CONFERENCE ROOM

WHEN: WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 6PM (STARTING SEPTEMBER 21 THRU DECEMBER 14)

COST: FREE

Price

This program will not cost members any money, but will cost the gym some money. However, after a year this program can help make the gym money, if it is successful. It would cost the gym money to hire someone to teach the class, and cost the gym money for healthy snacks that will be served at classes.

Place

The location of these classes will be held in the conference room during the times that it is not being used. Wednesdays seem to be the day that nothing is being held in the room which is why I decided on Wednesdays. It is a big enough space where at least 30 people could fit in there comfortably.