You Mean Pizza Isn’t a Food Group? The Role of Social Work in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

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Pizza in Box

by Sarah A. Carter

     As an elementary student, I was convinced that pizza was a part of a healthy food group because pizza was a staple in my house. Growing up in a low-income family gave me the wrong impression of healthy eating. As a child, I knew my parents would take care of me and make sure I stayed healthy. With that knowledge, I felt confident that pizza was a healthy meal. When I began the bachelor of social work program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I was expecting two years of papers and exams. To my surprise, pizza is not as healthy as my 7-year-old self thought, and my social work program taught me what I needed to know with a more informed and involved approach.

     Social Welfare Policy II, taught by Dr. Tracey Barnett, went beyond papers and exams. Dr. Barnett added a service-learning component to what had been a traditional face-to-face class. Service-learning typically involves students taking course content and engaging with a community partner to fill a specific programmatic need.

     During Spring 2016, my Policy II class partnered with the Love Your School program. Love Your School addresses the effects of obesity and the ability of children to learn and be successful in school while combating the effects of poverty through improved access to healthy food, increased physical activity, and nutrition education, according to a 2014 report by the Little Rock School District. Our assignment for this partnership was to educate elementary school children about the importance of nutrition and physical health. In addition to this, we were to use a policy model to analyze any state or national policy related to: walking programs, nutrition lessons, garden-enhanced nutrition farmer’s market, or child physical activity. Throughout this assignment, I was able to experience and establish a better understanding of the difference between micro, mezzo, and macro practice.            

     At the micro level, I am able to explain the purpose of Love Your School and why it is important for low-income families to pay attention to the importance of nutrition. I was able to talk with the children individually about what their favorite foods were and what they liked to play outside. Along with learning that a kindergartner’s favorite foods are ice cream and donuts, I was able to get to know the children better. This level of micro practice helped me build a foundation of who my audience is and what my best avenue of communication should be.

     At the mezzo level, the children and I were able to move forward with the lesson on nutrition and physical health. When working with kindergarten students, I tried to make the lesson as fun as possible. I was offered a very valuable lesson here from a mezzo perspective. This lesson centered on the ups and downs of working with a group. Along with laughter and games, there were disagreements and shouting over one another. I was able to gain a better understanding of how to work with a group. Later in my field internship, working with a group of adults, I used the same skills I learned while working with the kindergartners. It’s incredible how our social work skills can be utilized in multiple situations.

     Last, I was able to look at the program from a macro perspective by analyzing the Back to School: Improving Standards for Nutrition and Physical Education in Schools Act of 2007, which has a similar mission to the Love Your Schools program. Analyzing this policy and comparing it to my volunteer experience with Love Your School gave me insight into macro level social work in action. I worked with children from the target community and was able to see how the program works to fight against childhood obesity in families in poverty.

     In conclusion, the service-learning with the Love Your School program started out as an assignment obligation, but what I took from it became more beneficial than I could have imagined. Love Your School used macro practice to work toward the fight against childhood obesity. The program involved multiple schools within the community and several students from a variety of socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds. Instead of focusing on one area of Little Rock, this program took a macro approach and looked at the bigger picture. The most that I took away from this assignment was having the opportunity to see how micro, mezzo, and macro practice work together to make a difference.

Sarah A. Carter is an undergraduate senior at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) in the School of Social Work. She is set to graduate in May 2017 and is currently applying to graduate school to obtain her master's in social work. Sarah chose to major in social work because she hopes to make a difference, whether it’s in one person’s life or one hundred lives. As long has there is positive change and well being, that’s all she could ever ask for. Sarah is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) - Arkansas Chapter.