Problem Identification
Unlike in the past when obesity was associated with senior adults, excess body weight is becoming a serious health concern among young people. The average body weight of a child should exhibit a body mass index (BMI) below the 85th percentile. When the BMI of a child reads above the 85th percentile and 94th figure, the kid is considered overweight. However, when the BMI goes beyond the 95th percentile, a child is obese.
Obesity is synonymous with health complications such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart complications, and other cardiovascular issues. It is, therefore, essential to consider childhood obesity as a severe public health concern to prevent the associated clinical problems among young people and promote their general well-being.
Childhood obesity is one of the emerging health problems in the contemporary world, with many children developing excessive body weight. According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 170 million children have become overweight. In America, the rate of childhood obesity has been on a constant rise since the 1980s, with a growth of 18.5% from a low figure of 6% in the late 20th century (Siden, 2018).
As with other health issues, obesity has been affecting children differently across various ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds. Statistics show that children from minority communities are the most affected. Black kids lead among the obesity victims, followed by the members of the Hispanic group, while White children have the most minor victims, making it a socio-economic problem.
Even though obesity can be associated with factors such as genetics, the most common cause is poor diet practice. As a result, children exposed to poor diets are likely to become overweight. Children from Minority communities with low socioeconomic status are the dominant victims because their families cannot sustain the required healthy lifestyle and appropriate diet (Hawkins et al., 2018). Due to their poor economic status, the group cannot afford green vegetables, fruits, and other healthy meals; instead, they are subjected to unhealthy junky foods which are affordable, exposing them to obesity.
Obesity among children should be addressed at early ages when the victims are still young to prevent future complications. At a young age, obesity is still not mature, has less clinical impact, and thus can be easily managed. However, when they are left to grow, obesity will develop beyond salvaging, exposing the victims to clinical complications. In addition, children are easier to work with, especially on dietary practices and healthy lifestyles, because they have enough time (Hawkins et al., 2018). As a result, the school-based approach provides the best solution to managing the problem.
Teachers, parents, and the larger community need a united effort to promote the healthy weight campaign and enhance healthy lifestyles among young people. Healthy weight programs can be included in the education system to nurture and educate children on healthy diet practices and proper lifestyles. Using programs such as sports, schools can cultivate a culture of a healthy lifestyle by encouraging children to engage in physical exercises.
In addition to physical exercise, schools, in collaboration with relevant organizations, can educate parents and the community on healthy diet practices and sensitize them to proper food choices. Since obesity is a dietary problem, diet sanitization will help promote healthy living among children by guiding parents on appropriate food choices. The education programs can emphasize the consumption of green vegetables, fruits, nutritious whole grains, and lean proteins.
Since parents are responsible for their children’s diets, community sensitization will help reduce unhealthy food consumption. Similarly, some schools have feeding programs for students which promote unhealthy weight among young people by serving excess calories and junky foods (Arlinghaus et al., 2022). Therefore, involving schools in the campaign will help solve the problem through sensitization of healthy food choices and lifestyles.
Relevance of the Study
Children ensure the human population’s continuity, making them an essential part of human society. However, they are vulnerable to many health problems, which enhance their mortality. As a result, young people depend on adults for their health and well-being. Adults, including parents, teachers, and the community, must take center stage to keep young people healthy to maintain continuity and save future generations. Healthy diet practice and lifestyle are essential parts of childhood as they prevent diseases and clinical complications that affect them. With the increase in cases of obesity among young people, it is necessary to encourage healthy dietary behaviors and positive lifestyle practices at an early age.
The study will benefit young people by recommending healthy diet practices and positive lifestyles to prevent obesity and improve their quality of life. According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity cases among children are caused by poor lifestyle practices and unhealthy eating habits. Thus, healthy food choices will save kids from the condition and associated health risks.
Significance of the Study
Due to new health issues, the nursing practice must undergo consistent development to combat the problems. As a result, the nursing practice must use the available technological development and incorporate new ideas and knowledge. Evidence-based practice will supplement the clinical field by bringing new practices that promote efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and proper healthcare. The current study recommends ways of improving healthy lifestyles and eating habits, thereby helping to improve the quality of life and obesity among young children. Nurses can borrow and use the provisions to improve patient healthcare and reduce the impact of obesity.
Similarly, the recommendations can be used by teachers, parents, and the community at large to nurture and encourage healthy lifestyles among children and the general population. Aspects of the study, such as healthy diet practices and physical exercises, can be used to improve the quality of life and in public sensitization. The study’s implication will, therefore, reduce the burden of obesity by lowering the prevalence of childhood obesity.
Practice Questions in PICO Format
The study will deal with school-going children aged 6-12 (population) from poor socioeconomic backgrounds (status). Are school (or community or family)- –based nutrition education interventions (intervention) effective in reducing body mass index (outcome)?
Description of how the Search was Conducted
To study how to reduce obesity among young children in school setups, diet and lifestyle became the top priorities. As a result, an integrative systematic literature review was conducted on many previous works to obtain the studies that best tackled the topic by analyzing and providing recommendations. A total of 10 articles were initially analyzed from the MEDLINE database to be included among the three studies. The inclusion and exclusion criteria focused on the year of publication, in which only recent and up-to-date articles were included. Those published below 2018 were excluded. Keywords in the study are overweight, healthy diet, and obesity.
Literature Review
The literature review will analyze three articles, highlighting their objectives, methods for collecting data, specific results, and critiques discussing strengths and weaknesses. The reviews will be arranged in the order of year of publication, starting with the most recent. The article by Arlinghaus, published in 2022, will set the stage, followed by the other two works of literature published in 2018. The literature review will be finalized by providing recommendations from the studies.
Table 1: Search Result Table.
Effectiveness of School-Based Intervention
The first study under review was on the effectiveness of school-based obesity intervention and prevention among children and their responses. The literature work was conducted by Arlinghaus et al. (2022). The study used the scooping review technique to analyze and assess current and previous literature. The research had two objectives: to identify the proportions of school-based interventions that report study results in terms of response and, secondly, to assess the definitions used for the reaction. To understand how young obesity victims respond to school-based interventions, 26 articles were used, and their data were reviewed. The articles used participants who were ten years and below and recorded their responses to school-based interventions.
The findings show that young obesity victims responded positively to school-based intervention. According to Arlinghaus et al. (2022), school-based interventions such as healthy diet practices and positive lifestyles significantly reduced body weight among the victims. The results show that most obese patients enrolled in the school-based intervention recorded a lower BMI, confirming the success of the intervention.
The study’s strength was its extensive research. The literature used 26 articles, analyzing and comparing their results. The use of many articles provided a comprehensive insight into the topic and the opportunity to compare various findings. The study’s weakness was the use of outdated articles in its research. Some of the articles used in the analysis must be updated to provide up-to-date information.
Regulation of Sodium and Added Sugar Consumption
The second study was on the efficacy of the school-based intervention in regulating consumption among children. The literature work was conducted by Hawkins et al. (2018). The research objective was to establish if school-based prevention could effectively reduce children’s selection and consumption of sodium and added sugars through a school-feeding program vs. the control group. The research used Louisiana Health, a school-based obesity prevention and intervention center, as a case study. The study employed a randomized controlled trial technique to assess the program’s effectiveness among the participants.
Findings show that school-based prevention and intervention effectively reduce the consumption of sodium and added sugars among young people. School feeding programs such as the Louisiana Health lunch program make it easier to regulate children’s weight by reducing the consumption of sodium and added sugars. A school can reduce sodium and added sugars in their diet, preventing obesity among young people.
The strength of the study was the choice of the case study. Using Louisiana Health, a school-based prevention and intervention center, provided practical assessment and results on the topic. The weakness of the study was focusing on the lunch program alone. While the lunch program could aid in reducing the consumption of sodium and added sugar, ignoring other meal times, such as supper and breakfast, could compromise the results if the children under study consumed sodium and added sugars during those periods.
Competitive Foods in School
The last study was on competitive foods in public schools. The objective of the literature was to analyze the effects of competitive foods in public schools on adolescent weight and body mass index and the possible contribution to obesity. The research used an integrative systematic review technique to analyze the current and previous literature. According to Silden (2018), schools influence adolescents’ diet and choice of food because young people spend most of their time in school settings. Most competitive foods within the school setup are of minimal nutritional value and rich in excess calories and fructose, which enhance unhealthy body weight.
The study’s strength is its extensive research. It analyzed 26 articles, discussing and comparing their various findings on the topic. The use of several articles provided a comprehensive insight into the issue. On the other hand, the weakness of the research is the use of outdated articles. Some of the articles used by the study were outdated and thus did not contain current information and knowledge on the issue.
Synthesis of the Knowledge
All the articles agree that schools greatly influence what children consume in many ways. First, children spend most of their time in school setups, interacting with foods within. Secondly, the education system and schools, in particular, regulate children’s diet through knowledge, influencing their choice of foods. It is, therefore, critical to use a school-based intervention to reduce and prevent unhealthy weight and obesity among young people. A school-based intervention approach should regulate what children consume by controlling competitive foods within school settings and educating children on healthy diet practices and physical exercise.
References
Arlinghaus, K. R., Cepni, A. B., Helbing, R. R., Goodman, L. P., Ledoux, T. A., & Johnston, C. A. (2022). Response to school-based interventions for overweight and obesity: A systematic scoping review. Clinical Obesity, 12(6). Web.
Hawkins, K. R., Burton, J. H., Apolzan, J. W., Thomson, J. L., Williamson, D. A., & Martin, C. K. (2018). Efficacy of a school-based obesity prevention intervention at reducing added sugar and sodium in children’s school lunches: The LA health randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Obesity, 42(11), 1845-1852. Web.
Sildén, K. E. (2018). Impact of competitive foods in public schools on child nutrition: Effects on adolescent obesity in the United States an integrative systematic literature review. Global Health Action, 11(1). Web.
