Childhood Obesity: A Review of the Current Literature
Stephanie M. Worley RN, BSN Student
NSC 486 Public Health Nursing (Online Section)
Department of Baccalaureate & Graduate Nursing, College of Health Sciences,
Eastern Kentucky University
Date
Childhood Obesity: A Review of the Current Literature Overweight and obesity are defined as excessive or abnormal weight gain that may impair ones health (World Health Organization (WHO), 2015). In 2014, about 13% of the world’s adult populations were obese (WHO, 2015). According to WHO (2015), 42 million children under the age of five were considered overweight or obese in 2013. Obesity more than doubled worldwide between 1980 and 2014 (WHO, 2015).
There have been dramatic increases in childhood
…show more content…
Liou et al., (2010) research report found that out of 8,640 students, 8.1% ate five servings of fruit and vegetables daily, 65% ate breakfast each day, 50% consumed a sugar-containing drink on a daily basis, and 1 out of 11 ate a nightly snack. Research results pertaining to physical activity and inactivity revealed that during the weekdays, 450 minutes/day were spent participating in sedentary behaviors (watching television, using the computer, internet surfing, and playing video games) (Liou et al., …show more content…
This allows nurses and other healthcare staff uncomplicated utilization of the best evidence available, to address the worldwide obesity dilemma in children. Eating behaviors, physical activity and inactivity, ethnicity, family support and parental knowledge are factors associated with childhood obesity. These factors share a close relationship to the objectives listed by Health People 2020. These objectives are to reduce the proportion of children who are considered obese and to prevent inappropriate weight gain in children. Nurses are in a unique position as they interact with families across healthcare and community-based settings to advocate, educate, and support children and their families. One suggestion for future research would be to develop nursing interventions designed to promote a healthy weight among children and to conduct an experimental research study examining the effectiveness of the
Child obesity became a very serious issue that is taking on the health of the nation 's children. It is everyone responsibility to work on preventing and reducing childhood obesity, from the parents who are suppose to care about their children’s health, to the public health representatives, who should care about a future healthy nation, and everyone in between. Every part of society should create a set of lifestyle changes in order to save our kids from obesity. There are many aspects, which have to be changed or improved, including parent’s nutrition education, children’s physical activity and kid’s nutrition in a school and home, food industry and etc.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discuss about childhood obesity. With CDC, this research is very useful in helping others understand what overweight and obesity is. Having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, bone, muscle, water, or a combination of all is being overweight. Obesity is just having excess body fat. It states about obesity occurring to children and adolescents that has passed since 30 years. The first stage of this phenomenon starts as a person being overweight which will lead to obesity. More than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. The result for both of these terms is a caloric-imbalance which is an amount of too few calories that is consumed and is affected by many genetics, behavioral, and environmental factors. From this source CDC gives a specific estimate percentage of children aged 6–11 years that is more overly obese. In the United States in 1980 who were obese increased from 7% to nearly 18% in 2012. Furthermore over the same period, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21%. Additionally, there is a list of health effects of childhood obesity and inform immediate and long-term health effects. Tips are also included here to prevent any other health problems relating to obesity. It does not clearly teach every step of how to prevent it, but giving out ideas on how to solve the problem yourself.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an individual health promotion for an 8 year old African American female who is in the 95 percentile for weight. Guiding change is a key component that a nurse must display in order to combat childhood obesity (Berkowitz & Borchard, 2009). The health promotion will aim to increase physical activity and enhance the individual’s consumption of nutrient dense food based on Healthy People Guidelines 2010, as well as improve the health literacy for the parent and the individual with regards to childhood obesity. It is essential that the nurse, parent, and child have open communication with mutually agreed upon goals (Caprio et al., 2008). The goals set forth by the nurse, parent, and child are that the attendee participate in at least 60 minutes of sustained aerobic activity 5 days a week for the next 6 months.
Exercise, food, technology, and money all play a role in causing childhood obesity. Lack of exercise among adolescents has been proven to be the leading cause of childhood obesity. According to a May 2012 Institute of Medicine report, only half of America’s children and one in four teens get enough activity to meet current guidelines (Doheny and Noonman 1). The recommendations call for children to participate in at least 60 minutes of vigorous to moderate physical activity every day (Hendrick 1). “Only four percent of elementary schools, eight percent of middle schools, and two percent of high schools provide daily physical ...
Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% . Not only has prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity increased dramatically over the last several decades, but being an overweight or obese child puts one at a heightened risk for adult overweight and obesity .
To help out with my research on childhood obesity I am creating this annotated bibliography. I am researching the health issues related to childhood obesity as well as the long term effects.
There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in our country. Obesity has become a threat to the health of many children. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
...behavior of being lazy. These are most likely the main reasons why obesity rates in pre-school and schoolchildren more than doubled over the past decade. The terms overweight and obesity are used interchangeably quite often, despite the fact that they are not identical. Overweight is defined as an increased weight (not necessarily excess fat) for a certain height, while obesity indicates an excess in fat mass. Even though the long-term effect of overweight and obesity on morbidity and mortality in children has not yet been as well documented as in adults, multiple studies have shown that adiposity in childhood is correlated with the rising incidence of diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis observed in this age group. The consequences of overweight and obesity imply that the definition of who is overweight, and especially who is obese, is of utmost importance.
Obesity in the United States continues growing alarmingly. Approximately 66 % of adults and 33 % of children and teenagers in the US are overweight. Obesity is the result of fat accumulated over time due to the lack of a balanced diet and exercise. An adult with a BMI (body mass index) higher than thirty percent is considered obese (Whitney & Rolfes, 2011, pg. 271).
Childhood obesity is on the rise in many countries today. There are numerous causes of obesity in America, and the majority of them can be eliminated simply by household teachings. In her book Fed Up! Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity, Susan Okie explains how childhood obesity is taking over, “The growing numbers of obese children in the United States and in many other countries are victims of an epidemic just as surely as if they were infected with a virus.” The leading causes of childhood obesity include lack of exercise, poor diet, and genetic factors.
Nursing thrives on evidence-based practice and continual implementation of the nursing process. Evaluation and reassessment are key components to the success evolving and adapting nursing interventions have had. After reviewing all the data, there is a trend that catches the eye. The most successful interventions are those that are incorporated within a family or group setting (Mayo Clinic Staff). The development of a new nursing intervention to encourage healthy eating habits among teenagers and combat the epidemic of obesity should not only be targeted to the teens themselves, but also their families.
Teens used technology consuming excessive amounts of exercise time throughout the day that caused the physical health problem of obesity. Teens were physically active throughout the day before technology was fully exposed to teens. According to the article, Obesity in Children and Technology, Cespedes (2013) stated “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 10 percent of preschool age children and 15 percent of 6- to 19-year olds, can be considered overweight. In addition to eating more processed, high calorie foods, active play has been supplanted by technology” (para.4). Teens would take more time outdoors riding bikes, playing at the parks, walking with friends, and swimming at indoor pools that caused them to burn calories while having fun. Most of technology today was at a sedentary state that replaced many of the outdoor activities with teens playing sport video games, using their smartphones, and browsing the internet on the computer or tablets for coun...
Childhood obesity is a serious medical problem that affects children. Obesity is a medical term, commonly defined as being extremely overweight, which is only half the case. (www.wikipedia.com) Many parent’s ask if their child is obese, or at risk of becoming overweight, and they ask what to do about it. MD, Dennis Clements tells parents: “Obesity is a family event, not an individual event”.
Obesity simply put, is an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity puts children at increased risk of disease and other health-related problems. Childhood obesity is a very serious and ongoing problem-putting children on the pathway to health conditions earlier in their life such as diabetes, elevated cholesterol, hypertension. Childhood obesity also has a link to depression as well as affects the self-esteem of children and adolescent. I recently performed a community teaching on childhood obesity and will be discussing the teaching experience, observation, summary of the teaching plan, epidemiological rationale for childhood obesity, evaluation of my teaching and the community’s response to the teaching.
Obesity and overweight have became a global problem in the last decade, according to the World Health Organization back in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion adults over the of age 15 were overweight, at least 400 million adults were obese and at least 20 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight. Experts believe if the current trends continue by 2015 approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. The scale of the obesity problem has a number of serious consequences for individuals and government health systems. Obesity is a concern because of its implications for the health of an individual as it increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions. Being obese means having so much body fat that your health is in danger. However, being fat is simply not an opinion. Having too much body fat can lead to many diseases. Obesity and overweight have become a global problem in the last decade.