Foo Yun Shuen Cassandra
Gan Ding Han
Jin Shuai
Tran Viet Son
Woo Kai Mun Dennis
Project Work 2010
Project Task 2 - Alternatives
Group Project Proposal
10S6H
Choice of topic:
Obesity is posing a growing threat to nations all over the world and to Singapore [see
table 1]

There were 1.6 billion overweight adults aged 15 and above and at least 400
million obese adults worldwide in 20051.
Table 1: Prevalence of obesity among adults from 18 to 69 years old in Singapore2
Disease
Prevalence in 1992
Prevalence in 1998
Prevalence in
2004
Obesity (BMI ≥
5.1%
6.0%
6.9%
21.1%
24.4%
25.6%
30)
Overweight (25 ≤
BMI ≤ 29.9)

Obesity causes physical diseases such as cardiovascular diseases as well as
psychological problem such as depression.
Current measures:

Trim and Fit Courses, including swimming, running, etc.

Cooperation from tuck-shop vendors to sell healthy foods

Involvement of parents
1
World Health Organisation statistic
Adapted from National Health Survey2,
http://www.pacifichealthsummit.org/downloads/Obesity%20Prevention%20and%20Control%20Efforts%20in%20Singapore%20%202008%20Case%20Study.pdf
2
Page 1 of 15
 Approaches mostly targeting parents and teachers
 Students follow without really understand the reason, or find no joy in
doing it (current methods and measures are not refreshing)
Case study of how USA adopted various approaches to reduce the amount of
carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere:

Similarity between Case study and Problem
Both obesity and rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide 3 (CO2)
are posing an increasing threat, on health and environment separately, to the
society.

Global warming due to rising atmospheric concentration of CO2

USA has adopted various strategies to solve this problem

Based on natural settings and available resources of the concerned areas.

Approach 1: Enhancing Oil Recovery Project4
Figure 1: How carbon dioxide can be used to enhance oil recovery
o Kansas, USA
o Oil firms and ethanol energy plants
3
Carbon dioxide CO2, accounted for global warming as it traps the heat due to incoming solar radiation and prevent it from
escaping back to the atmosphere
4
Enhancing Oil Recovery Project. Kansas, USA. Funded by US Department of Energy. It uses carbon dioxide emitted from an
ethanol plant to exert pressure on the remaining oil underground as well as greatly reduce the viscosity of crude oil, thus push
them to the surface
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o Utilise harmful CO2, but can only be installed near depleted oil field to
minimise cost of gas transportation

Approach 2: Switching to alternative source of energy
Figure 2: Nellis Air Force Base Photovoltaic Power Plant
o Photovoltaic Power Plant5
o Utilise solar energy, but occupying large areas and can only be set up
at areas receiving sufficient amount of sunlight

Lessons learnt:
o Different methods are suitable for different situations
o Profits can only be maximised in favorable conditions
Proposal:

Aim:
o Preventing obesity rate from rising
o Tackle the problem using fun and appealing approaches to students
o Greater outreach to students
5
Nellis Air Force Base Photovoltaic Power Plant, Nevada, USA. The system size is 14 megawatt covering an area of 140 acres.
Operating since 2007, it will help reduce carbon emission by 24,000 tons over 30 years
Page 3 of 15

Target audience:
o Students


Obese/Overweight (Approach: Cure)

Of acceptable weight (Approach: Prevention)
Approach 1: Raising awareness of student population regarding healthy diet
and joy of physical exercising.
o Tailor-made approaches to suit different students

Note: The students can be categorised using carefully crafted
survey questions. Since the survey questions are free of ill intent,
students ought to be able to answer honestly.
Group 1
Directed at students who attempt losing weight unhealthily

Broadcasting the harmfulness of unhealthy methods of weightloss such as
 Dieting (liquid diet – replacing solid food with fluids,
carbohydrate diet – abstinence from starchy foods)
 Refusal to eat (anorexia)
 Inducing vomiting after meals (bulimia)

Teaching the importance of healthy diet and exercising and its
advantages over the inappropriate weight-loss methods as
mentioned above

Education on nutrition – showcasing different types of foods,
their calorie count and explaining that not taking in certain foods
might instead be detrimental to weight-loss efforts
 It is apparent that more and more youths are using
Page 4 of 15
Smartphones such as iPhone, HTC Hero etc., which are
touch screen phones.
 This leads to the possibility of the following application:
Instead of having a lock icon on the lock interface of the
Smartphone, there can be a great number of pictures of
food, of a great variety (healthy and unhealthy) on the
interface.
 In order to unlock the phone, one has to drag 3 food
items with a particular characteristic (eg. contains
natural sweeteners / high in fibre / contains antioxidants)
to the image of an obese man on the lock interface; the
man will then become thin and the phone will be
unlocked.
 This will help to educate the general public on the
different types of foods and their consumption benefits.
Group 2
Directed at students who lack willpower

Showcasing the harmfulness of obesity (See below)

Encouraging peer motivation
 Usage of Twitter and Facebook

Garnering
support
and
help,
or
at
least
understanding, from others is crucial to weight loss.

Groups and pages could be set up on the above
networking websites; an online community of
people hoping to lose weight would thus be formed
and the administrators of the group could post tips
Page 5 of 15
and advice from experts regarding weight loss.
Members of the group could also post updates on
personal progress with weight loss, and this would
serve as motivation to others.

Helping them set up strict schedules to follow
 A possible system would be for students to clock in
hours of outdoor activity or Physical Education instead of
making payment in exchange for canteen food
Group 3
Directed at students who do not see the need to lose weight

Showcasing the harmfulness of obesity (See below)

Introducing them to different sports
o With correspondence to the likings and preferences of teenagers today,
showcasing the harmfulness of obesity can involve the organisation of
competitions such as the design and illustration of comic strips and manga
with storylines involving explanations or depictions of the harmfulness of
obesity. The winning entry can then be distributed to all students to increase
awareness.
Besides the above, the following can also help to raise awareness about obesity:
o Exhibitions:

Posters and video productions (short films) on obesity

Workout session / demonstration conducted by professional
trainers; all at the exhibition who are interested will be allowed to
join in to pick up workout tips
o Various booths with laptops to conduct pop quizzes with the participants
/ allow participants to play specially-designed flash games
Page 6 of 15

Players will be required to answer questions regarding the
nutrition value of different foods and involving mixing and
matching different foods to form the ideal breakfast / lunch /
dinner.

If the player answers correctly, the character in the Role-Playing
Game (RPG) will become slimmer and fitter, but if the player
answers incorrectly or inappropriately (i.e. there could have been
a better answer but the player answered otherwise), the
character becomes fatter and flabbier. The game ends when all
questions are answered or if the character reaches the weight
range of obesity.

Approach 2: Introducing Parkour to the student population as a new and fun
sport
A 2-day camp comprising the following activities can be organised:
First day
Seminars/Sharing sessions and Simulation games for
parkour training
Second day
Parkour training and amazing race
o Seminars:

Videos of parkour will be showcased

Experts can be invited to give an insight to parkour
o Sharing sessions
Page 7 of 15

There will be first-hand accounts by those who have successfully
lost weight appropriately and enjoyed the process of it

The account will motivate students to lose weight / stay fit
o Parkour6
training
(Collaborating
with
the
Singapore
Parkour
Community)
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6: Examples
of parkour moves, which can be
used as a form of physical
training
o Amazing race:

Participants will need to overcome obstacles along the way to
win attractive prizes that will help in their upcoming fight to lose
weight and stay fit through exercise
The art of overcoming obstacles within one’s path using efficient methods, whereby the movements chosen depends
on the speed, angle of approach, body type, and physical make-up of the obstacles. It utilises fast redistribution of
body weight and momentum. Training can be conducted by hiring professional trainers.
6
Page 8 of 15
 Approach 3: Usage of psychology and humans’ perception of colour in
dieting.
Color and the appeal of various foods are closely related. Just the sight
of food fires neurons in the hypothalamus. The appearance of food largely
determines our liking towards it.
Figures 7 and 8: A million years ago, when our earliest
ancestors were foraging for food, blue, purple and black were
"color warning signs" of potentially lethal food. These pictures
illustrate how blue, purple and black foods look unappetising
and slightly repulsive to humans.
Of all the colors in the spectrum, blue is the one that is the appetite
suppressant. “A study which involved asking contestants their favorite foods,
dying them blue and asking them to eat them showed that blue food is
instantly found to be much less appealing, even if it tastes normal.” (Morton,
2008)
Blue food is a rare occurrence in nature. There are no leafy blue
vegetables, no blue meats, and aside from blueberries and a few blue-purple
potatoes from remote spots on the globe, blue does not exist in any significant
quantity as a natural food color. Consequently, we don't have an automatic
appetite response to blue.
As such, we propose to work with canteens in schools to serve food on
blue plates, or paint the walls of the canteen blue, or using blue lighting in the
cafeteria.
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On the other hand, colours like red and yellow increase breathing and
heart rate and also appetite. White also causes mindless snacking and
overeating. This means that canteen stalls selling healthier food can have
signs painted red yellow. This also means that unhealthy foods that are white
can be dyed other colours with food colouring.
Possible problems:

Time constraint due to colleges’ tight schedules

Difficult to change students’ mindset

Safety issues deter students from participating in parkour activities

Economic limitations
Possible solutions:

Events can be carried out during school breaks.

Convince them by showing potential threat of obesity

Step up safety precautions by introducing safety equipment and keeping the
parkour course to a reasonable safety level

Ask for sponsorship from willing organisations
Feasibility:

Appeal to the students’ interest (alternative games/sports are novelties)
o Interest in sports can be stimulated in students (encourage students to
exercise regularly)

First-hand account (conducting of sharing sessions) increases the
persuasiveness
Page 10 of 15
Manageability:

Exhibitions can be held in schools

Target audience is restricted to students population only, which makes project
more manageable

Funding can be sponsored by Health Promotion Board or organisations like
SingTel or StarHub who want to use the events to help advertising
Methods used to gather information:
Primary resources
Objectives
Interview with Health Promotion Gathering
Board officers
information
about
fitness
exercises
Discuss the feasibility of introducing the
alternatives into curriculum.
Survey for student population on There will be 2 surveys in total.
physical exercises to maintain
(i)
fitness
To see what the students’ concerns
are regarding current methods by
schools to lose weight and what
interests them, so as to design a
better approach.
(ii)
To collect feedback on proposed
alternative methods as mentioned
above
Sample size: Total of 300 students from
various Junior Colleges, 16-18 years old.
Page 11 of 15
Secondary
URL
Objectives
Singapore
www.hpb.gov.sg/default.a
To obtain fact and figures
Health
spx
To gather information about past
resources
Promotion
and current efforts in dealing with
Board
obesity
World
Health www.who.int/en/
Organisation
To
obtain
information
about
strategies implemented by other
countries
Singapore
www.le-parkour.sg
To learn about parkour and to
parkour
look for programs organised for
community
the public
Miscellaneous
http://www.associatedcont
To find out how countries deal
websites
ent.com/article/1138958/a
with similar problems and learn
_lesson_from_the_food_s
lessons from them
hortage_in.html
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p
=900
http://www.mext.go.jp/b_m
enu/hakusho/html/hpae19
9201/hpae199201_2_015.
html
Page 12 of 15
Steps used to carry out the project:
Commencement Date
To be completed
6th May
Finalisation of Group Project Cassandra
8th May
Work Allocation
Proposal
Viet Son
Setting up of GPPedia
Ding Han
Carrying out of basic research of Jin Shuai (in-charge)
current
weight
measures
management Dennis
recommended
and Cassandra
carried out by schools as well as
incorrect
methods
of
dieting
adopted by students today
15th May
Formation of survey questions
Viet Son
Formation of (email) interview Ding Han
questions.
*Both the survey and interview
should ideally be done online to
maximise productivity. Questions
to be sent out only after approval
from other members.
19th May
Surveying Round 1 (Circulation All
of surveys)
28th May
CT
Session
(Multimedia All
presentation to introduce student *Note:
Attaining
of
Page 13 of 15
population to Parkour games permission to address
and
other
aspects
of
our cohort- Dennis
Proposal - see above)
31st May
Surveying Round 2 (Circulation All
of surveys)
9th June
Sharing session / interviewing of All
people who have successfully *Note:
lost weight
Contacting
speakers-
of
Cassandra
and Jin Shuai
20th to 21st June (Exact Conducting of Parkour games All
date to be finalised to trial, interviewing (for anecdotal *Note:
Contacting
ensure all members can evidence) of those who attended organisation
be present within the 2 the
trial
to
analyse
of
and
general relevant logistics details
days)
response
24th June
Collation of survey results and All (Editors: Cassandra,
analysis of data
- All
Ding Han)
[Our Written Report will consist of the following sections: Abstract / Introduction /
Literature Review / Survey Results / Interview Results / Trial Results / Data Analysis /
Discussion / Conclusion]
---------------------END---------------------
Page 14 of 15
References:
 ANU College of Medicine Biology and Environment. (2009, January 08).
Beating the global myopia threat. Retrieved from
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=900
 Associated Press. (2004, October 05). Singapore takes strict steps against
obesity, overweight kids singled out for extra exercise in school. Retrieved
from http://www.msnbc.com/id/6124732/
 Lee, Warren. (May 2003). Fighting Fat: With TAF in Singapore. Diabetes
Voice, 48. Retrieved from
http://www.diabetesvoice.org/files/attachments/article_82_en.pdf
 Low, Serena, Chin, Mien Chew, & Yap, Mabel-Deurenberg. (2009). Review on
epidemic of obesity.38(1), 58-58. Retrieved from
http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/38VolNo1Jan2009/V38N1p57.pdf
 Morton, J.L. (2008, August 22). Colour Matters – The Effects of Colour on the
Body: Appetite. Retrieved from http://www.colormatters.com/appmatters.html
 National Energy Technology Laboratory (2005, January 10). CO2 Injection
Boosts Oil Recovery, Captures Emissions. ScienceDaily . Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050110091718.htm
 The National Bureau of Asian research. Soon, Grace, Koh, Yang Huang,
Wong, Mun Loke, & Lam, Pin Woon. (2008). Obesity Prevention and Control
Efforts in Singapore. Retrieved from
http://www.pacifichealthsummit.org/downloads/Obesity%20Prevention%20and
%20Control%20Efforts%20in%20Singapore%20%202008%20Case%20Study.pdf
Page 15 of 15