Pediatric Obesity, Capstone Project Example

Abstract

Obesity has become a common issue among youths and adolescents in the United States especially during the entrance of the 1900s. During the onset of the year 1980, 12.5 million children and adolescents have been reported to be suffering from the said healthcare issue in the United States alone[1]. This alarming truth provides a sense of cause for attention on the healthcare operations that the US healthcare department takes into consideration. Question is, how serious really is the case of obesity? Does t really have to be given much attention by healthcare professionals?

These questions are to be specifically addressed in the research and discussion presentation that follows herein. Relatively considering the role of advance nursing in addressing the issue, this research is expected to provide relevant indication on the developments relating to how the problem of obesity is given specific resolution through the establishment of several healthcare options. The consideration over this matter is expected to create a new visionary for advanced nursing practitioners to follow especially when it comes to handling their responsibilities as healthcare assistants towards their patients.

To be able to make a distinctive foundation of the presentation, this research shall be based on several literature sources that are assured to provide good support to the ideals of creating more established approaches to modern healthcare attention that patients suffering from obesity need. These literature sources are expected to provide a convincing backbone of discussion that this research shall be dependent upon as it brings about new insights on how advance nursing practices could ease down the increasing problem of obesity among US residents at present.

Introduction

Health is wealth, an overly used term that is still applicable to all the members of the new generation today. True, although it has already been considered a cliché to accept that human health is an intangible yet valuable wealth, less people are becoming more concerned about their health status. Notably, the changing lifestyle in the society today even makes the desire to become health almost impossible to conceive[2]. The anticipation over the need to be healthy has become a common trend as being fit becomes more elusive to those who have embraced a particular practice in their daily lives especially in relation to food choices.

The issue of obesity has grown even much alarming during the point of commercial development. Relatively, the increase of the number of entities in the fast food industry has contributed so much regarding this matter. Not to mention the existence of processed meals, beverages and even the supposedly healthy and nutritious food choices sold in the market, which also aggravated the situation of people getting overly fat. Back then, people relate obesity to gluttony. However, is it all about eating too much that should be pointed out as culprit to the matter?

Through the years of research, there are different factors that contribute to the existence of obesity in one person or a specific group of individuals in a particular localized area. To make sure that the results are relatively balanced in the manner that they present the facts rather than the opinionated view of the society which is most likely driven by health fallacies, several experiments and observations have been handled. In the aim of presenting reliable facts in this discussion, this research shall be divided into sections that are deemed by the researcher to be important to the indication of what obesity is. It is believed that through this approach, understanding obesity and gaining insight on how to deal with its challenges could be better derived.

Literature Review

Definition of pediatric obesity

In most cases, a patient develops obesity from childhood. It has been realized then that dealing with the issue should then come from its roots, hence defining what pediatric obesity is. Basically, pediatric obesity is defined as the aspect of having a condition in children ages 5 to 11 where their body stores excess fat instead of releasing it through physical activities that enhances faster process of metabolism. The relation of a child’s age and weight to establish his BMI rate is an important factor that is being observed in line with the desire to identify whether or not he should be considered obese[3].  From the occurrence of such health problems, other issues arise that are most likely detrimental to the social and individual growth of the child. Hence, to help prevent the emergence of such issues, this problem has been considered as a matter of social concern that must be given specific consideration to. To define the roots of the problem, so as to find relative solutions, the factors and components that identify the emergence of obesity is then to be examined.

The Components of Obesity

As mentioned earlier, it is simply not right to consider that obesity is developed solely because of one’s perception of food and eating. The basic function of food is to nourish and to satisfy; but it is not just the misconception of this situation that dictates the existence of obesity in a patient. The fact is, there is a thin line that separates behavioral condition with that of the genetic status of an obese patient[4]. These distinctions shall be further examined and discussed within this section of the research.

Genetic Component of Obesity

While cases of genetically developed obesity seems to be rare in occurrence, it is not denied by healthcare professionals that the genes of an individual has a great impact on how his body correlates to the function it has to undergo especially when it comes to breaking down fat soluble. The central nervous system is considered to be the source of such imbalance that causes genetic obesity among some patients[5]. Nevertheless, such instances of genetic guide for developing obesity in a patient does not specifically get triggered unless there are some environmental factors that could trigger the matter. Relatively, it boils down to how the person intend to respond to the environmental factors of the matter that pushes forward for the existence of obesity in his system. Relatively, this directs the situation to the behavioral component of the said ailment.

Behavioral Component of Obesity

The attitude of a person towards good and his perception towards eating plays a great role in the development of obesity. Relatively, when one sees food as a source of personal satisfaction more than it is a nourishment to the body, the urge is much driven by desire rather than necessity. As a result, a person does not stop eating unless he feels that he is satisfied with the food he takes in. It does not matter how little or how much he eats, the more important thing there is, is the fact that he was able to feel a supposed “void” that can only be filled with food. Notably, such an attitude among parents could also be handed over to the children.

This is further aggravated by the fact that the environment that the children of the current generation is brought up into. It should be noted that now more than ever, the vast offering of food that provides self satisfaction and pleasure out of taste and content have flooded the market. Processed pastries, ready-to-eat meals and so on and so forth continue to remain as the best selling sets of food choices in the market. Children then become accustomed to the fact that their desire for food with high content of sugar and detectible content of carbohydrates could be easily responded to through the stores that are existing around them.

Obesity in the United States and the World

Although obesity is seen as a constant health threat among different nations around the globe, the rate of the said matter is specifically concentrated on the American region. During the recent years, the increase of the number of individuals developing obesity is constantly rising within at least 19% every year. Concentrated mostly on children, obesity is observed to have been a developing problem among individuals in the US particularly from the point of their childhood making it harder for them to recover from the ailment as they grow older.

Commercial development in the country and the culture that it establishes in the community is observed to be among the very reasons behind the influx of the number of those suffering from obesity. Although there are other nations in the European area that are specifically developed like that of the US, they do not embrace so much commercialism as do the American society[6]. Commercialism has basically brought about the culture of infidelity from the need of looking for much better choices of food for nourishment. The increased production of processed food specifically creates a massive point of choice for individuals living in the country.

Giving the market a larger scope of food choices gives them the freedom to pick what they want. Without proper understanding of the need to watch nutritional details of the said food, people would eat just about anything. The mushroom-growth of fast food businesses in the American community offers children, the adolescents and the young adults a choice of food source that do not require them to wait for well prepared and nutritious food. Thinking that they simply need to eat because it is needed makes it easier for them to decide to eat on fast food establishments in an almost regular basis[7]. Considerably, such decisions back fire towards non-concern individuals as they grow older.

Lack of parental guidance on children who are presented openly to the market also contributes to the increase of rate in pediatric obesity in the country. The sad fact behind this is specifically depending on the idea that the parents do not also know so much about obesity nor do they know so much about the need to watch the nutritional contents of their children’s food choices. Lack of such knowledge puts them in the position of not being able to watch what they need to observe in their children’s everyday nutritional intake.  As a result, the children become accustomed to a food culture that simply follows what they want and not necessarily what they need for nourishment.

The impact of Obesity on Individuals and the Society

When it comes to the younger generation being afflicted by the ailment, the effects are mostly psychological and sociological. Children who become physically big usually get taunted in school for their size which usually develops a specific issue among the youngsters as they deal with their own personal desires in line with their need to be socially involved among their peers. Children have a definite need to belong. Hence, when they feel that they are not accepted, this specifically affects them psychologically[8]. There are instances that such frustrations even develop eating disorders, sometimes even develops depression that results to eating more. With lack of understanding, parents respond to the matter in a wrong way. Instead of dealing with the issue, giving in to the desire of their children to eat more becomes a solution that worsens the problem.

As for the community, obesity becomes a matter of issue especially when it comes to developing individuals who are not suitably able to complete their tasks at work because of their ailment[9]. The capacity of a person to completely deal with his responsibilities is lessened by the fact that he is developing an ailment especially that of obesity which further results to more health issues lie cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory problems and others that affect work performance. The more daunting part of this issue is the fact that companies tend to hire less of those individuals who have the possibility of developing obesity; not because of discrimination but because of the fact that such individuals cause them more than they are benefiting from hiring such workers.

The problems go on and on and the list has a long side of defining what effects obesity leaves both to the individuals involved and the societies that they are living in. The functionality of a person becomes compromised so does the benefit of the society from the existence of such an individual. This is the reason why healthcare systems are specifically given the responsibility to look over the issue, research on the matter and produce specific solutions that are best able to deal with the problem at hand. As for the current situation, it is expected that advanced nursing practices and the application of proper patient assistance would help out as much as needed towards the capacity of the society to respond to the  ranging issues of obesity.

Research Methodology

In line with the need to understand the core roots of the issue being dealt with in this research, it is vital to have a specific focal point of discussion. In this case, the direction of the research is focused upon pediatric obesity. Notably, it is believed that being able to handle the growing issues of pediatric obesity would actually create a difference on how obesity is dealt with overall. Starting with the patients at an early age is expected to set them off the right path as they recover from the ailment and develop a better and healthier culture as they grow into maturity.

Through the correlative researches that have been examined in the literature review section of this research, it could be understood that pediatric obesity is caused by several contributory factors. One is that of parental knowledge and guidance, another is that of the environment and another factor involves the behavioral disposition of the young ones towards food and nutrition. Relatively, with all these factors considered altogether, the young patients of obesity become strongly affected by the ailment and are then expected to suffer all the different outcomes that obesity introduced later on in life.  In this research, such an approach is considered vital as it provides a considerable foundation of information that would support the need to establish the role of intervention that advance nursing practitioners are supposed to take especially in the hope of providing vital solutions to the matter. In the following section, an overall discussion of the results that have been gathered through literature research shall be discussed and shall then be defined alongside the role that advance nursing practitioners are supposed to take into consideration in relation to the problem of obesity among children and younger patients.

Discussion and Analysis of Results: Pediatric Obesity a Growing Problem

To be able to handle a particular problem, awareness over the matter should be established. The capacity of the society to become more aware of the situation affects the determination that they have to solve the situation at hand. Without proper awareness over the matter, the capacity of the society to handle the issue is weakened. With commercialism sure to become a stronger entity in the community, it is understood that the younger generation would surely be bound to a food culture that is more dependent on processed choices than on healthy ones[10]. Commercialism could not be controlled by the healthcare sectors of the society though. Nevertheless, healthcare representatives could do more than just let the situations in the environment affect the patients and the behavior that they develop towards food and their personal health concerns.

This is where the availability and value of advanced nursing practices come into good use. Advanced nursing practitioners are expected to have better training especially in dealing with early diagnosis tasks among patients who are at a risk of not being able to compellingly respond to their own healthcare needs. In the course of defeating the impact o obesity among the younger generation, early childcare health provisions should be given attention to in relation to this matter. One way to improve such matter in the society involves the need of the nurses to become more aware of their patients’ BMI rate and how these rates respond to the possibility of them developing a hint of obesity at an early age[11].

Beyond simply providing healthcare assistance and early diagnosis services, advanced nursing practitioners could also embrace the responsibility of raising awareness among parents through offering free community lectures as well as consultation services that would provide them a better understanding of what imposes the development of obesity in children and what they should do about it. Handling regular sessions of awareness lectures about the ailment in community setups shall raise the understanding of the people towards obesity and hopefully help them to become more mindful of what they are facing and how they are dealing with the eating habits that the children are developing[12]. Giving them healthful options of combating the ailment would surely provide more benefits than simply giving the children supplements that they need in a medical basis. The knowledge imparted to them [the parents and the children as well] shall allow the healthcare sector of the American society to save more dollars that are spent yearly to treat ailments that are relatively connected to the emergence of obesity in younger patients.

Conclusion and Recommendations

True, obesity is a healthcare issue that must be dealt with by individuals afflicted by it. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the society is not in the position to help. Obesity should be treated as  serious case especially among children that should be dealt with and not be laughed about. It could be realized that only through the indication of knowledgeable understanding of the issue at hand would the society actually know how to deal with it hence creating a more defined path towards solving the issue during its earliest stages. In line with the research presented herein, it has been learned that there are several contributors towards the occurrence of obesity and that dealing with this factors is vital to coming up with a relative solution to the issue.

On the other end, it has also been noted in this discussion that advanced nursing practices designed to raise social awareness would largely help in the process of creating a sense of emergent understanding upon the society hence equipping the people [particularly the parents] with the right knowledge they need to see to it that their children do not develop obesity later on. Introducing proper culture towards food intake and developing proper view of commercialized food shall define the direction of healthy living that people are to take within a community hence lessening the rate of obesity in most cases.

In future researches though, it is suggested that  consideration over an interview on some parents who have obese children be handled. This recommendation shall make the research more relatively connected to  understanding how the parents today really perceive obesity and the nutritional needs of their children. By doing so, creating a blueprint plan for advanced nursing practitioners to take shall be more effective and applicable for actual social healthcare use.

References

Caballero B, Clay T, Davis SM, et al. (November 2003). “Pathways: a school-based, randomized controlled trial for the prevention of obesity in American Indian schoolchildren”. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 78 (5): 1030–8.

Choi HK, Atkinson K, Karlson EW, Curhan G (April 2005). “Obesity, weight change, hypertension, diuretic use, and risk of gout in men: the health professionals follow-up study”. Arch. Intern. Med. 165 (7): 742–8.

Cornette R (2008). “The emotional impact of obesity on children”. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs 5 (3): 136–41.

Deurenberg P, Weststrate JA, Seidell JC (March 1991). “Body mass index as a measure of body fatness: age- and sex-specific prediction formulas“. Br. J. Nutr. 65 (2): 105–14.

Dietz WH (1998). “Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease“. Pediatrics 101 (3 Pt 2): 518–25.

Janssen I, Craig WM, Boyce WF, Pickett W (2004). “Associations between overweight and obesity with bullying behaviors in school-aged children“. Pediatrics 113 (5): 1187–94.

Kimm SY, Obarzanek E (2002). “Childhood obesity: a new pandemic of the new millennium”. Pediatrics 110 (5): 1003–7.

Kopelman, Peter G (2005). Clinical obesity in adults and children: In Adults and Children. Blackwell Publishing. p. 493.

Miller J, Rosenbloom A, Silverstein J (2004). “Childhood obesity“. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 89 (9): 4211–8.

Must A, Jacques PF, Dallal GE, Bajema CJ, Dietz WH (November 1992). “Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. A follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935“. The New England Journal of Medicine 327 (19): 1350–5.

Nader PR, Stone EJ, Lytle LA, et al. (July 1999). “Three-year maintenance of improved diet and physical activity: the CATCH cohort. Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health”. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 153 (7): 695–704.

Newhouse, Robin; Julie Stanik-Hutt, Kathleen M. White, Meg Johantgen, Eric B. Bass, George Zangaro, Renee F. Wilson, Lily Fountain, Donald M. Steinwachs, Lou Heindel, Jonathan P. Weiner (September/October 2011). “Advanced Practice Nurse Outcomes: 1990-2008: A Systematic Review“. Nursing Economic$ 29 (5).

Reinehr T, Wabitsch M (2011). “Childhood Obesity”. Current Opinion in Lipidology 22 (1): 21–25.

Speiser PW, Rudolf MC, Anhalt H, et al. (2005). “Childhood obesity”. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 90 (3): 1871–87.

Tukker A, Visscher T, Picavet H (April 2008). “Overweight and health problems of the lower extremities: osteoarthritis, pain and disability”. Public Health Nutr 12 (3): 1–10.

[1] Speiser PW, Rudolf MC, Anhalt H, et al. (2005). “Childhood obesity”. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 90 (3): 1871–87.

[2] Reinehr T, Wabitsch M (2011). “Childhood Obesity”. Current Opinion in Lipidology 22 (1): 21–25.

[3] Miller J, Rosenbloom A, Silverstein J (2004). “Childhood obesity”. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 89 (9): 4211–8.

[4] Kopelman, Peter G (2005). Clinical obesity in adults and children: In Adults and Children. Blackwell Publishing. p. 493.

[5] Must A, Jacques PF, Dallal GE, Bajema CJ, Dietz WH (November 1992). “Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. A follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935”. The New England Journal of Medicine 327 (19): 1350–5.

[6] Nader PR, Stone EJ, Lytle LA, et al. (July 1999). “Three-year maintenance of improved diet and physical activity: the CATCH cohort. Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health”. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 153 (7): 695–704.

[7] Kimm SY, Obarzanek E (2002). “Childhood obesity: a new pandemic of the new millennium”. Pediatrics 110 (5): 1003–7.

[8] Cornette R (2008). “The emotional impact of obesity on children”. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs 5 (3): 136–41.

[9] Dietz WH (1998). “Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease”. Pediatrics 101 (3 Pt 2): 518–25.

[10] Newhouse, Robin; Julie Stanik-Hutt, Kathleen M. White, Meg Johantgen, Eric B. Bass, George Zangaro, Renee F. Wilson, Lily Fountain, Donald M. Steinwachs, Lou Heindel, Jonathan P. Weiner (September/October 2011). “Advanced Practice Nurse Outcomes: 1990-2008: A Systematic Review”. Nursing Economics 29 (5).

[11] Newhouse, Robin; Julie Stanik-Hutt, Kathleen M. White, Meg Johantgen, Eric B. Bass, George Zangaro, Renee F. Wilson, Lily Fountain, Donald M. Steinwachs, Lou Heindel, Jonathan P. Weiner (September/October 2011). “Advanced Practice Nurse Outcomes: 1990-2008: A Systematic Review”. Nursing Economics 29 (5).

[12] Dietz WH (1998). “Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease”. Pediatrics 101 (3 Pt 2): 518–25.