Obesity prevention in school-age children

Introduction1

Theoretical Framework3

Literature Review3

Childhood Obesity3

Nutrition and Physical Activity3

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Obese Children3

Health Literacy of Children related to Nutrition4

Participation of Obese Children in Physical Activity4

Television Watching among Obese Children5

Barriers for nurses towards preventing obesity in children5

Individual (Nurse) Factors5

Family Factors5

Interaction between Nurses and Families6

Institutional Factors6

Societal Factors7

Strategies for dealing with Obese Children and their Parents7

Dealing with obese children and their parents sensitively8

Importance of Growth Chart8

Expert advice8

Summary9

Discussion9

References11

Obesity prevention in school-age children

Introduction

This study is carried out on the topic of 'obesity prevention in school-age children'.

Rates of obesity have increased at an alarming rate over the last three decades in the United States. A survey that was carried out recently found out that the rate of school-age children's obesity has increased by 300% since the year 1980 in the US. Obesity has affected 16% children of US (Shaikh et.al, 2012). Obese children are at a greater risk due to several negative consequences in terms of mental well-being, physical health, and complete life quality as compared to their peers who are not obese. Additionally, obese children are at an increased risk for adulthood obesity. Therefore, avoidance and dealing with childhood obesity holds critical importance in the US.

Nurses can play an enormous role in preventing and treating the problem of childhood obesity. Nurses can guide obese children and their parents regarding the right nutrition, diet, physical activity, and other important things that are needed by obese children in order to lose weight (Savinon et.al, 2012).

The key terms that have been used in this study are defined as follows (http://dictionary.reference.com):

Obesity - the condition of being overweight or fat

Nutrition - the process or act of being nourished or nourishing

Diet - drinks and foods considered in terms of their compositions, qualities, and impact on the health of human beings and other living beings.

Life style - the attitudes, habits, economic level, moral standards, tastes, diets, and so forth which constitute altogether the living model of a group or an individual

Screen time - the time spent by a person in front of screen

The databases that were used to search literature and research studies on this topic were ebscohost, proquest, google scholar, and phoenix libraries. The key terms that were used for searching literature and research studies on the subject of obesity prevention in school-age children were obesity, overweight, activity, sports, nutrition, diet, fat, childhood obesity, life style, nurses, over-weight children, primary health care, parents, school and so forth.

Extensive research has been carried out in the US on the subject of obesity prevalence in school-age children in US. Researchers have analyzed the subject from the perspective of children, parents, nurses and other health professionals to prevent this disease from sprevailing. Qualitative as well as quantitative research has been carried out on the subject in order to analyze the collected research data statistically and in depth.

The objective of this literature review is to provide the readers with a review of previous work and researches carried out on the subject of obesity prevention in school-age ...