DQ Children and adolescents obesity
I1.Children and adolescents obesity is a health issue that affects the most population. According to Dipti, Brent, Barbara, Blake, & Hyunkeun (2013), risk factors to obesity among preschool children are; child nighttime sleep duration, parent’s body mass index (BMI), and parental restrictive feeding for weight control. According to the study, children who sleep for 8 hours and less are more likely to be obese. On the other hand, children whose parents are overweight are equally at higher risk (1.9 times more likely) of becoming obese as children whose parents used restrictive feeding practices are also more likely to be obese. Other risk factors according to Sinead et al, (2009) are children with a sedentary lifestyle, those born large, and those raised with high-risk family health behaviors such as for overweight mothers, smoking near children, and missing breakfast, and from a family with low income and low educational attainment are at higher risk of becoming obese. Feeding a child solid food before 3 months was also associated with obesity among high-income families among the whites.
The risk factors differ slightly between adolescents and children but aspects such as sedentary lifestyle and feeding habits are common in childhood and adolescents. Inactive lifestyles and lack of physical activity among children and adolescents have been attributed to computer technology especially computer games that have replaced outdoor games for children and adolescents. Therefore, high-income families should encourage their children to be aware of physical activity and proper eating habits and further studies should be conducted to identify the level and effectivity of education on a healthy diet. Parents and families need to be involved in child-obesity prevention and should establish sleep routines for children and increase their awareness about negative restrictive feeding practices.
Community health nurses have a role in ensuring that the objectives attain the goal of reducing obesity rates in children and adolescents by providing health and nutritional advice to parents. They can also lead to ecological approaches that will provide information on the association between obesity and other behavioral factors. Accordingly, they will help in contributing to the reduction of obesity rates among children and adolescents.
References
Dipti, A. D., Brent, A. M., Barbara, H. F., Blake, L. J., & Hyunkeun, C. (2013). Risk Factors for Overweight/Obesity in Preschool Children: An Ecological Approach. Journal of Childhood Obesity, 9(5): 399–408. DOI: 10.1089/chi.2012.0150.
