“With the chronic obesity in America, it’s more important than ever to not only feed the kids healthy foods but to teach them how to make healthy choices on their own,” Jennie Garth said, ultimately so, for the future health of our nation. In order to help the children of this nation become more educated, we must reach out to the parental public. It is an increasingly important responsibility for healthcare providers to get more involved with their patients’ lifestyles. Today’s nurses are at the frontline of patient care and with these changes in healthcare it is nursing students our nation should be focusing on to educate on how to help others help themselves, prevent or decrease obesity within their families. That being said, the following research shows ways to better understand the problem the United States faces with a rise in childhood obesity, how nursing students view obesity and research showing methods in which they should be dealing with obese patients, and why childhood obesity most evident in poverty stricken communities. Before one can truly understand the problem this nation faces with rising obesity and decide how to prevent it further, one must fully understand what obesity is and how it has come about. It is said that once one understands a problem, the solution becomes clear. Research shows that many people are not aware of what is causing this obesity and therefore, are incapable of properly preventing it in their children. For purposes of this paper, it is even more important to be sure that the future health care providers of our nation, nurses specifically, are well informed of the causes and effects of obesity and are prepared to battle this problem once they are hired into the workforce in order to detect...
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...he future, I have hope that future nursing students will become more educated in the matter and come up with ways to help improve prevention of this epidemic we call obesity.
Works Cited
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In the recent decades, obesity has grown into a major health issue in the United States within young people. With 31 percent of the United States of children being obese, the United States has become the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world. Obesity is not only found among adults, but it is also now found mainly among children and teenagers. The childhood is a very important period for the initiation of obesity especially in this time. Eating practices that children are taught or learn during childhood affects a person later in their life whether they know or not. Multiple studies have confirmed that childhood obesity in the U.S has been on a rise for years. One out of three children in the U.S are obese, most of them face a higher risk of having medical, social and academic problems. Childhood obesity also leads to many health problems among young people. Those problems include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many more others. These problems cause a rise in health care costs that their families might have to pay sooner or later. The influence of parents and the media play a big role in causing these problems to happen. Some people believe that a family with an obese child should not raise child protection concerns if obesity is the only cause for concern (Callaghan, 2010). However, doctors should always be mindful of the possible role of abuse or neglect in contributing to obesity. The result of some research that was done on the symptoms of neglect shows a clear correlation between childhood abuse and obesity in childhood. A study of American school children has found that after controlling for socioeconomic status, those who were physically abused were more likely to be obese (Callaghan, 201...
Towns, N., & D’Auria, J. (2009). Parental perceptions of their child are overweight: An integrative review of the literature. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 24(2), 115-130.
Obesity in children across America has become an increasing public health concern. Obesity has been identified as an epidemic that is plaguing our children in the United States. In some countries around the world children are dying of starvation everyday. How can this happen when here in America the opposite is a major problem? This is not to say that in America there are no hungry or starving children. It has been proven that our children suffer from obesity, and “children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are five times as likely as normal-weight children to be overweight or obese as adults” (“Hope”). Obesity not only can cause a child to become more prone to having health problems down the road, but it can also make them feel insecure about themselves. There needs to be action taken in schools as well as in homes to help prevent this growing epidemic.
The documentary emphasizes how parents believe their children will grow out of it and portrays the life of four Spokane families struggling with obesity. Also, it goes into depth about the food parents allow their children to consume, and explores other causes and effects of childhood obesity. Throughout the documentary, there are strong anecdotes and opinions of many physicians, pediatricians, and other medical practitioners. The anecdotes show us the detrimental consequences of obesity on children and their troubles that manifested from it. But most importantly, it allows people to see firsthand the impact of obesity on a child. All the parents in the documentary were unable to differentiate the condition of their child 's health as normal or overweight or obese, which is an obvious problem because nothing can change especially if it is not acknowledged or viewed as something important. If parents believe it does not have to be addressed or belittle the problem, then the condition of the child worsens. One of the parents (Yesenia Torres) in the documentary said that she did not realize that her children were in a grave situation because of her feeding practices. She said she used to believe that "An expression of love is feeding the kids whenever they ask for food" but shortly after her children were diagnosed as obese, she realized the seriousness of the situation. Therefore, the parental mentality is an influential factor that determines whether or not a child develops
Also approximately, 13 million children and adolescents between the ages of 2-19, are obese in the United States too. A child who is obese will have the following symptoms, such as a physical look of being overweight, binge eating, and it is very common for them to have a shortness of breath when they take on a physical task, or exercise. Child obesity, if not treated, nor looked after can cause very mortal complication diseases in the near future that awaits for them ahead. It can lead the child towards having future high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It is considered neglect that parents have an obese child, this is because children need to be looked after, and not have to look after their own wellbeing, they don’t know any better. The parents on the other hand, are grown adults to know their own child’s medical history, and what needs to be in order for their child to live a healthy. In order to avoid obesity from their children, parents have to know all of the fundamentals towards becoming successful on their child’s health, and away from the bad eating choices. At the end of it all parents need get their child proper medical treatment, and counseling towards a healthy lifestyle, or it is considered for the child to be obese, and a result the state will affirmative action against the family
The Scope of Nursing Practice describes the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how” of nursing practice. Each of these questions must be answered to provide a complete picture of the dynamic and complex practice of nursing and its evolving boundaries and membership. (ANA )The role of the nurse with the obese population is very important. Obesity is considered a chronic disease in many community health texts. Community health nursing grew greatly, during the later part of the 20th century, due in large part to a growing population of chronically ill people (who were now surviving illnesses that were previously less treatable). This situation with the chronically ill continues to grow, shifting more and more responsibility for health
Several major questions can be considered when evaluating an essay. For example, does the essay identify a question worth addressing? Being an analytical essay, Grellier & Goerke (2014) suggest that no argument is given and therefore the topic is required to be discussed neutrally. The title ‘Obesity’ provides no detailed information regarding what is going to be discussed. In
Childhood obesity has been on the rise in the last couple of years. In the 1970’s childhood obesity was never a concern to the public until the number increased over the years. An alarming rate of 31% of all adults have been obese since they were children and the rates of childhood obesity don’t fall too behind with an 18% of children being obese. That makes almost half of obese adults and children. A child that is obese has a 70-80% higher chance of staying obese even through their adulthood if no action is taken. Childhood obesity is not something children are in control of, these children suffer from different outcomes since they can’t look after themselves and heavily rely on someone to aid them when they need it. These numbers can be drastically altered in a positive way by educating both children and parents about healthy, nutritious foods to consume, supplying schools with better lunch and healthier vending machines with healthy choices and promoting after school activities to keep children active and away from electronics.
The nation is suffering from a new epidemic from a program that had good intentions. The obesity rate for children has distantly increased over the past years and is continuing to grow. In the past thirty years, obesity has more than doubled in children and has tripled in young adults. This problem has both immediate and long-term effects in health and well-being in children and adolescents. The ...
Our future begins with the children of today growing up to be the adults of tomorrow. “Childhood obesity is the condition of being overweight or severely overweight which causes risks to health between the age of 2 and 19” (“Childhood Obesity”). Childhood obesity is taking a huge toll on not only the physical standpoint of the child, but also their mental stability. Childhood obesity is no longer a concern with Americans; it’s now a problem that has spiraled out of control in the world. Obesity will never be resolved one hundred percent, but it’s the little impacts that concerned citizens bring to people’s attention that make the difference. One step in the right directions is better than not taking a step at all. Along with the many health issues associated with childhood obesity, there are three major effects that seem to stand out more around the world; the food we subject our bodies to, setting a pattern for the next generation(s), and it contributes to a child not reaching his or her full potential in life.
Public health nursing focuses on promoting the health of a community. This position requires attention to measures such as conducting community assessments, identifying vulnerable populations, ethical practices, community education, epidemiology, and more. One such issue addressed by public health nursing is childhood obesity. Obesity has been, and continues to be, a major global health concern. As a public health nurse, identifying populations, assessing risks, and educating a community all contribute to finding a system that helps address this concern. With rates increasing, especially in adolescents and children, this health issue is a serious epidemic effecting the world.
As a health care professional it is our position statement that obesity should be considered as a disease. Overweight and obese adults are considered at risk for developing diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and certain type of cancers. An average of 300,000 deaths is associated with obesity and the total economic cost of obesity in U.S. was about $ 117 billion in 2000. As health care professionals it is our responsibility to increase public awareness of health consequences of over weight and obesity. Obesity as a disease: Obesity fits all the definitions of ‘disease’, that is, interruption in bodily function.
Childhood obesity is a serious problem among American children. Some doctors are even calling childhood obesity an epidemic because of the large percentage of children being diagnosed each year as either overweight or obese. “According to DASH sixteen to thirty-three percent of American children each year is being told they are obese.” (Childhood Obesity) There is only a small percentage, approximately one percent, of those children who are obese due to physical or health related issues; although, a condition that is this serious, like obesity, could have been prevented. With close monitoring and choosing a healthier lifestyle there would be no reason to have such a high obesity rate in the United States (Caryn). Unfortunately, for these children that are now considered to be obese, they could possibly be facing some serious health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. All of these diseases have been linked to obesity through research. These children never asked for this to happen to them; however, it has happened, and now they will either live their entire life being obese, or they will be forced to reverse what has already been done (Childhood Obesity).
Obesity is a modern epidemic in America and is starting to become our society’s “norm.” According to an article in Progress in Health Sciences, childhood obesity is the most frequent eating disorder (Koukourikos). There are several factors that contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic. Should we solely shun the parents of obese children for this? No, we should not. There is not one single person to blame, but several people, along with our society. Family, friends, and schools all play a very important role in teaching children about healthy food choices and exercise. Children may have a greater risk for obesity due to genetic factors. We need to constantly remind our children how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that
“More than one third of our children and adolescents in our country are now overweight or obese” (Kids and Obesity). This epidemic is also skyrocketing the occurrence of disorders and other health issues such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and bone and joint problems (Weight problems and obesity). But obesity can also effect adolescents on a deeper level, especially those of lower socioeconomic classes. Depression and low self esteem is also directly related to obesity and has high tendencies to lead to substance abuse is males and eating disorders in females (Weight problems and obesity). Adolescent obesity is a very serious issue and the need for nursing interventions has never been more prominent. The majorit...