Essays on Childhood Obesity

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Obesity in childhood is among the most serious concerns in the U.S. and almost one-third of all children as well as adolescents have an overweight or obese body. Considering the issue of obesity in children, schools, especially the availability of junk foods in schools have gotten substantial attention as children spend a good amount of their time in schools (Datar & Nicosia, 2009). Food items such as candy, soda, and chips are also considered as competitive foods as they are available along with school meal programs and usually compete with them. Competitive food and beverages (CF&B) are ...

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Clinical Question What would be the effect of competitive food and beverage (CF&B) policies on student weight outcomes in comparison to the students who have not followed the CF&B policies and those who have followed some other policy according to which some of the competitive foods are available to students?

How the clinical question indicates the type of study that will be done (quasi-experimental vs. experimental)?

This clinical question is showing the comparison of two groups. One comparison is that of the students following CF&B policies with the students who have not followed these policies. Second comparison is that of the students following CF&B policies with the students who have following some ...

Introduction to the Health Issue

One of the notable health issues that remain relevant in the health system today is childhood obesity affecting children between the ages of 2 and 19 years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016), the total population of children experiencing obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s within the American society. Currently, one out of every five children aged between 6 years and 19 years suffers from obesity (as highlighted in figure 1) (Bariatric Surgery Source, 2016). Obesity results from a situation where the body has excess fat that it is not able to ...

Identify 3 Social Determinants of Health in Community

Unemployment, lack of access to affordable healthcare, and lack of proper nutrition and fitness among children and young adults are 3 major social health determinants in the city of Hialeah. The rate of unemployment is 7% which is significantly higher compared to the state average of 5.6% (City of Hialeah 2017). Unemployment leads to various health disparities and social insecurity such as poor nutrition, lack of education, and access to basic healthcare services (Hialeah Healthy Families 2011). Most of the adults in Hialeah have poor education which prevents them from understanding the need to access or use preventative healthcare ...

Childhood Obesity

The study by Datar, and Nancy Nicosia (2012) has Level VI (level of evidence), and is of sufficiently good quality as the research is empirical in nature and has minimal level of bias due to the appropriate data collection procedure and instrument validity. The study is significant as it is working on one of the most important healthcare problems in the world, i.e. childhood obesity. It is also important as the study deals with Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K) along with instrumental variables, so that the outcomes would come on the basis of well-documented facts. With the ...

Today not only in the United States but also across the world more children than was the case fifty years ago are becoming obese. These children are increasingly being placed at risk of contracting diabetes and other lifestyle diseases in their later life. Through scientific studies, researchers have established some of the reasons why more children are today being diagnosed with childhood obesity than before (Schmiege, Gance-Cleveland, Gilbert, & Aldrich, 2016). Their arguments revolve around the change of lifestyle being experienced today. On average, almost a third of the children in America are suffering from childhood and the numbers are ...

Obesity is becoming a medical condition of major concern which requires immediate action by Public Health professionals. Renowned health workers are of the view that it is high time that the government takes a stand to curb obesity. But the ethical dilemma in this regard appears when it comes to the point that if onlookers should see what others are eating or if someone else should bother about the weight or eating habits of a person. These questions bring us to the point where a conflict arises between well being and freedom (Clark, 2013). A major ethical dilemma in ...

Childhood obesity is a huge problem nationally because the number of obese and overweight kids is alarming and there are signs that it is increasing instead of decreasing (CDC, 2016). First, it is paramount to define this problem. Childhood obesity, according to (CDC, 2016), denotes the condition in which children and adolescents have a weight that is higher than the normal weight that is clinically defined as healthy at their age. Consequently, the children develop overweight-associated problems that initially were thought to affect only the adults. It is important to note that childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term ...

Childhood obesity is a growing health concern with the National Conference of State Legislatures (2014) estimating that 31.7% of children and adolescents are either obese or overweight. Consequently, such a health concern has an impact on nursing. This is especially the case considering that obesity is associated with the patient being at a high risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and liver complications (Joshi, 2015). It is therefore important that policy imperatives be developed to tackle the problem. Some of primary areas of concern for a policy touching on childhood obesity include school nutrition, insurance coverage for affected ...

Childhood Obesity: An Overview

The rate of childhood obesity remains to be high in the past years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015b), 17 percent of children and teenagers or 12.7 million young individuals in the United States are affected by obesity during the past decades. Childhood obesity in children is determined by the child’s body mass index (BMI). Compared to children of the same weight and gender, a child is considered obese if his or her BMI is in the 95th percentile (Anderson & Butler, 2006). This is a serious condition. Obesity increases mortality and morbidity and presents ...

Obesity can be defined as a medical condition in which a person has excessive level of fat in his/her body. Obesity can be determined with the help of Body Mass Index or BMI. A person is considered overweight if his/her BMI is higher than 25 and less than 30. However, a person is considered obese if his/her BMI is 30 or above. Obesity is adversely affecting the society, especially children. If it continues to grow at its current pace the U.S. health care system could face major problems, and it calls for major steps to be undertaken by the ...

Introduction / Thesis

The topic chosen for this discussion relates to the prevalence of childhood obesity in America today. Pediatric obesity is a major health challenge today, and the obese children face risks of having metabolic disorders and lower health-related quality of life. There are greater chances of cardiovascular disease risk factors plus psychological and social problems among the obese children. The health-care costs related to pediatric obesity are expected to rise in the United States as asserted by Katzmarzyk et al. (2014). Based on the published information by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advertisements and marketing of junk food ...

Child Obesity

Health Promotion Plan Childhood obesity has become an epidemic that is threatening more and more families in the USA. Overweight and obesity are used to describe a person who has excess body fat which can lead to adverse effects on their health and well-being. This occurs when the energy intake from food and drinks is greater that the energy that the body spends doing physical activities. It was revealed that children who are overweight are at greater risk of having health problems when they reach the adolescent and adult stages. Some of these conditions include cardiovascular diseases, type 2 ...

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Abstract Obesity is a condition of having more than average fatness, and it is defined by the Body Mass Index (BMI) of 95th percentile or more. Obesity epidemic is not only affecting the people from underdeveloped and developing countries but also affecting the people of developed countries. Particularly, minorities in developed countries are facing the problem more commonly as compared to the other population. During the last few decades, it has not only affected the adults but also children even at very young ages. Therefore, for the betterment of future generations, it is important to work ...

The promotion of healthy foods consumption among the children could be enhanced through raising their awareness about the importance of such foods. “According to Wang et al. (2015), different childhood obesity intervention studies conducted in schools in the United States support the evidence of effective intervention programs and involvement of the home, family, and community to make healthful food choices for childhood obesity prevention.” Cultural, social, and particular individual habits and behavior influence food-decision. Marketing, pricing, and packaging of snacks have attracted popularity among the people, which has influenced them to change to unhealthy feeding habits. However, there is ...

Ethos

The reduction of childhood obesity is considered as a societal responsibility. Schools, parents, guardians, leaders, healthcare givers, the private sector, and community-based initiatives are responsible for obesity reduction in children. The involvement of such individuals will ensure that children live healthy lives.

Logos

Feeding children with healthy foods and helping them in becoming fit physically will reduce childhood obesity. Statistics show that, in America, one among three children is obese (National Center for Health Statistics et. al, 2015). However, in the African Americans and Hispanic communities, 40% of the children are overweight (National Center for Health Statistics et. al, 2015).

Pathos

...

Analysis of Article

(Author, Department, University,

Analysis of Article In an article researchers worked on a counselling method, i.e. Motivational Interviewing by school nurses, in the prevention of childhood obesity (Bonde, Bentsen, & Hindhede, 2014).

Who is the study sample?

In the study (Bonde et al., 2014), researchers took interviews of 12 school nurses, so the study sample is nurse representing a population of nurses assigned for motivational interviewing of students to prevent childhood obesity.

Is the study sample generalizable?

The study sample could not generalized as the nurses of the study had long working experiences. Whereas, sometimes less experienced nurses may also work in schools, who would show different perceptions about motivational ...

Literature Review

The literature review was conducted in relevant academic journals that relate to elementary school-aged obesity. In essence, the review was carried out on home-based interventions, school-based interventions effectiveness, and sustainability of the methods adopted in curtailing obesity.

Obesity Epidemic

Childhood obesity is linked with severe health risks. Primarily, obesity is associated with diabetes mellitus, increased risk of coronary heart disease, orthopedic complications, and more stress on weight-bearing joints, and lastly, it is a cause of pediatric hypertension (CDC, 2016). Moreover, hospital costs associated with the treatment of obesity are dramatically high. Besides, being obese can set back children psychosocial status. In ...

Brennan, Virginia M, Shiriki K Kumanyika and Ruth Enid. Zambrana. Obesity Interventions in Underserved Communities: Evidence and Directions. New York: JHU Press, 2014. In this book, Brennan, Kumanyika, and Zambrana (2014) provided detailed information regarding obesity. For that, he provided evidence-based directions to control the increasing issue of obesity among children. The audience of this book is children, parents, and teachers. This book has a diverse group of researchers who have explored different effective models and methods for obesity interventions in underserved communities. The author has provided a range of recommendations to policy makers, parents, and teachers to deal ...

The evaluation of obesity prevention programs is based on outcome data that are related to the risk factors for obesity. Some of the outcome data that can help in the evaluation process include the following: behavioural risk factor indicators, the level of environmental conduciveness to healthy behaviours, physical activity indicator, nutritional indicators, and the level of nutrition knowledge. Behavioural risk factor indicators are crucial in evaluating the success of a health promotion program aimed at preventing or reducing the prevalence of obesity within any given community (Institute of Medicine (U.S.) et al., 2005). In this case, it is important ...

Childhood obesity is one of the common lifestyle challenges facing children living in Adams County and various other parts of the United States. Indeed, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2013, Community overview, para. 1), the prevalence of childhood obesity in Adams County was 18.6% in 2013. Obesity is a risk factor to cardiovascular diseases and other chronic illnesses (Frandsen, Pennington, & Abrams, 2014). Indeed, it is the most common risk factor for type 2 diabetes (DeBruyne, Pinna, & Whitney, 2012). Poor nutritional practices and sedentary lifestyle are some of the most common risk factors for obesity ( ...

Introduction

Obesity may be defined as the condition where an individual has more fat in his body more than the stipulated amount. It has been realized to have various effects on the individual’s health, such as diabetes and heart failures. This issue was mainly believed to be prominent amongst the older members of the society, however, over the years, the issue of obesity has been realized to be a disease that is also affecting the children in the society. As per the World Health Organization report (2012), about 170 Million children have been realized to be overweight and hence ...

Proposed Solution

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of obesity among children has tripled from 6.5% in 1980 to 18.6% as of 2008. This is contrary to the prevalence of adults which has doubled. An effective solution for the overall problem of obesity should therefore focus more on children. Consequently, the proposed solution focuses more on school-going children given that a huge proportion of the target population (children) attends school, which is an important point of the socialization process for children. The solution involves inculcating practices and policies in schools that promote healthy habits with ...

<Course>

According to the reports of Carroll Ogden and the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of childhood obesity doubled among children while the rate quadrupled among teenagers over the last three decades (“Childhood Obesity”). This means that more and more children and adolescents are becoming at risk of serious illnesses associated with excess weight, which include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In order to resolve this issue, children and teenagers must be encouraged to make a lifestyle change. For many, encouraging them to be involved with more physical activities remains a viable option. Many ...

Part 1

Health Promotion Proposal: Elementary School Age Obesity The goal of this project is to establish the major factors contributing to the increasing numbers of school-aged children been diagnosed with childhood obesity and its co-morbidities and recommend meaningful ways to stave off this alarming health problem in the present and future generations.

Interventions to Address the Goal

The role of the healthcare sector is to ensure the quality of health and wellbeing of every person in the society (Rice et al., 2013). Increasing numbers of obese children in the U.S. raise a health risk that requires quick intervention from health care stakeholders such as the ...

BBA

Associate Professor

Health Science Department; Master of Science in Health Administration and Leadership    

Winter 2016

S  

Acknowledgements

This project paper demonstrates the integration of the knowledge I acquired from the courses in Master of Health Administration and Leadership Program and the collaborative application with this project’s community partner, MidMichigan Health to improve the community health in Gratiot County, Michigan. I am thankful for getting this valuable opportunity to work with a large healthcare organization. First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents who worked really hard to financially and emotionally support me in pursuing further education overseas. They comfort me every ...

Health promotion Goal

The goal of the project is to establish major factors contributing to increasing numbers of obese school-going children and recommend effective plans to prevent the health problem in the future.

Interventions to address the goal

The role of the healthcare sector is to ensure the quality of health and wellbeing of every person in the society. The increasing number of obese children in the United States raises a health risk that requires quick intervention from health care stakeholders. Weight-related conditions traditionally associated with adults are currently more common among the young generation, especially school-aged children compared to the past. Addressing the project goal demands ...

Literature Review

Childhood obesity has been on the increase in the past few years making it an international problem. Waters et al. (2011) carried out research to how efficient the current childhood obesity prevention methods were. In their research, they found out that intervention strategies to prevent obesity in children can be effective. However, they suggested that implementation should be effective to scale, ensure equitable outcomes, and sustain the impacts of the program over time. In another research, Anzman, Rollins, and Birch (2010) suggested that the first years of life provide opportunities for preventing childhood obesity. During this period, parents can ...

Defining and describing the issue

The school-aged children experience many health challenges caused by poor diet. Children and young adults spend most of their time in school, and many have meals made in schools. The nutrition quality of these meals has a lot of impact on the health outcome of the child; hence, need to create a standard nutrition guideline that determines the type of food, the type of ingredients, and amount served to children during lunches. Many governments have implemented policies and legislations on school meals to prevent children from consuming unhealthy and unbalanced diets. The following paper uses the Local School Wellness ...

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is the provision of an overview about the child obesity, its causes, physiological and social changes, the existing advancements in childhood obesity, and prevention and intervention s of this problem. Attaining a complete impression about the factors linked with obesity in kids is really significant in developing the highly effective strategies of intervention. Community and family based intrusions have produced positive outcomes in order to reduce the level of BMIs and an improvement of the risk factors of MetS s. Inclusively, in the USA an increased level of obesity interventions and continuous initiatives ...

Narrative:

The topic of the research is to eradicate childhood obesity. A database search was carried out on to identify material that fit the description of the research. The keywords used included obesity, which is a state where the body mass index of an individual exceeds 30. Obesity in children focused on material that focused the effects of obesity in children. Material that contained a reference to obesity in children as well as ways to eradicate obesity in children was considered for the research. Material that focused on obesity in general without being specific to children was excluded from the ...

<Course>

According to Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, around 45 million children in the United States play in an organized sport. This could have been a good figure; however, by the time these children reach 15 years old, 80 percent of them quit (Atkinson). There are many possible reasons why these children decide to stop participating in sports. One of these is the wrong perspective that parents hold about sports. For instance, there are parents who believe that winning is the main goal of sports (Atkinson). When their children do not succeed, they will either tell them ...

Obesity

Q1.) One of the most serious problems modern society face is obesity, especially childhood obesity. Within the past thirty years, childhood obesity has grown at a terrifying rate. Obesity is associated with high rates of chronic diseases, even much higher than drinking, smoking and living in poverty. Women endure a disproportional burden of diseases attributed to obesity and overweight, including ethnic inequality. In the year 2009, the economic expense of obesity and overweight in Canada and the United States caused by medical expenses, disability and excess mortality was almost $300 billion. ("KCMO Community Health Assessment 2011 | Open Data | data.kcmo.org", ...

Childhood obesity is one the rise. Statistically, 17% of children and adolescents around the world are obese (Karnik & Kanekar, 2015). This translates to about 12.7 million of the world’s population. Obese children are at an elevated risk of developing various lifestyle conditions including cancer, hypertension, and juvenile diabetes (Dietz & Gortmaker, 2001). Over the years, there have been numerous forums to deliberate on ideal approaches to addressing obesity in children. In 1997, an expert consultation conference was convened by the WHO in Geneva with a primary purpose of reviewing past studies to come up with policies to curb obesity ( ...

Background: The rising prevalence of obesity in children is a serious public health concern. Obesity is like a silent killer, and can predispose the child to a number of lifelong disabilities and chronic diseases. Obesity is negatively linked to life span. A child with obesity has higher amount of adipose tissue deposition, when compared to a normal weight child. The excess calorie that is not utilized for work or growth, is deposited in the form of adipose tissue and stored in the body. Adipose tissues are made of adipocytes or other called fat containing cells. Obesity occurs from factors ...

Abstract

Obesity among young children is on the rising trajectory. Research journals about obesity focus on the causes of obesity and mitigating interventions for childhood obesity. According to the Center for Disease Control in the United States, obesity cases pose a health risk to children and thus there is need to prevent it. Medical practitioners in most health care centers are also worried with the increase of the cases of obesity among the young generation. Ebbelin, Pawlak & Ludwig, (2002) suggests that the increase in the cases of obesity has resulted in a high number of cardiovascular infections among the youths. ...

Introduction

Childhood obesity has become a serious and a major health problem. It is a condition characterized by excess fats in the body and it negatively affects a child’s overall well being and health. The diagnosis of obesity is based on body mass index (BMI). Cases of childhood obesity have been on the rise (Cdc.gov., 2016). It has necessitated the need to recognize obesity as a serious health problem and concern among the heath fraternity. However, in most areas, the term overweight is used instead of obesity as it is less stigmatizing. BMI is acceptable method for determining obesity ...

Introduction

Childhood obesity is one of the major contemporary health and social, physical and psychological issue. Beside the most examined health issues also the psychological and social are very important that are derived from the obesity. Children are confronted with discrimination, which result in negative body image, low self-esteem, depressions and other which shows that the issue must be examined from different aspects. Obesity has severe impacts on the children with numerous social and health related concerns. Psychology as a discipline can help to decrease the alarming rates of obese children in the country. There have been various factors identified ...

Instruction

Introduction In the contemporary world, obesity has become one of the detrimental global issues that are leading to the death of many individual regardless of their gender, age, or racial difference. Obesity occurs when a person exceeds the recommended body max index and is related to the prevalence of other chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Therefore, obesity is categorized as a life-threatening issue in the public health, and hence require more attention and focus since the disease is escalating at an alarming rate. Various studies indicate that obesity affects even the children at ...

Final Project - Intervention

The childhood obesity is the risk of many pathological conditions in the body. This obesity is a medical problem and it is caused by a number of factors, including a sedentary lifestyle, prolonged stay at the TV and computer, the presence in the sale of cheap but unhealthy foods (pop-food). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the cause of childhood obesity is the excessive intake of calories and a lack of physical activity (1). Thus, most often obesity occurs due to the overeating and the disorders of energy’s consumption control. The treatment should be ...

Campaign Against Obesity

Obesity as a Contemporary Societal Issue According to World Health Organization (2014), around 2.8 million people die every year due to obesity. Obesity is a condition characterized by a weight that is more than the healthy range. This condition leads to many negative health conditions, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke, certain types of cancer, mental illnesses, and others. Currently, it is estimated that there are around 78 million obese U.S. adults (“Adult Obesity,” 2015). What makes the issue worst is the fact that adults are not the only ones who are at risk of ...

Introduction

The development of a child involves a lot of things. As a responsible parent, the health of the child should be of utmost importance. There are various aspects of health, some of which are beyond the control of the parent while others are directly controlled by the parent. In this work, we consider such conditions as obesity and the parent’s responsibility in ensuring that the child develops without such conditions.

Obesity is one of the serious health concerns. Due to its rising occurrence in children, serious and urgent solutions have been a point of concern. Obesity is a condition that results from ...

Childhood Obesity is as well-known problem in America. An altered lifestyle, as well as dietary habits, could account for the epidemic. There are many differing opinions as to the exact cause and, indeed, the possible solutions to the problem. In order to grasp a basic knowledge of the overarching topic, the findings and theories of various researchers have been compared. In their article “Weighing in on the Issue of Childhood Obesity,” Lynn-Garbe and Hoot introduce a fictional situation concerning a 4-year-old boy called Kyle. Kyle is the subject of ridicule and exclusion on the playground as a result of his weight (Lynn-Garbe & ...

Introduction

Currently, childhood obesity has become a very serious global health problem that gradually affects developing countries especially in urban areas. The rate at which this problem increases is terrifying. Over 42 million children globally, below the age of five, were estimated to be overweight in 2010. About 35million of the overweight children were found to be living in developing countries. In the United States, children and teenagers with obesity accounts to about 5-25% (Dietz, 1983). However, in adults, it varies with ethnic group. Estimation from research findings is that 6% of black and white children are obese while 19% of ...