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COMING SOON IN YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORES: "EAT, PEOPLE ARE STARVING IN AFRICA!" by RV Siegel

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Preventing children and adolescents from being overweight should be a high priority. In 1998, the World Health Organization has identified childhood obesity as a global epidemic [7,25]. Health disparities among the vulnerable (children, elderly, the poor, etc.) and underserved population is still a major worry and childhood obesity is still, unfortunately a concern. Physicians and nurse practitioners frequently encounter overweight children in their medical practices. However it appears that present interventions used have not been successful since related studies indicated that the percentage of overweight children in the population is rising. 

 

According to Edward Sondik (2004), Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC’s) National Center for Health Statistics, that an increase in proportion of overweight children and adolescents, ages six to 19 years old, from 11% in 1988 to 1994, to a staggering 15% in 1999 to 2000. To date, it is believed that 25-30%  of children and adolescents in the United States are obese. Above data obviously appears dismal compared to the 1966-1970 statistical data that less than 5% of children and adolescents male or female are overweight.

 

Recent studies point out that the projected path of overweight from infancy to childhood (starting at around four months of life) was associated with increased risk of overweight at seven years of age [31].

 

Consequences of Obesity in Children

 

Multi-system physiologic response is associated to childhood obesity. According to the American Diabetes Association, (2000, 2004), these include hypertension, sleep apnea, insulin resistance, and prediabetes including impaired Glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glucose, and type 2 diabetes. Aberrant psychological behaviors may also result in conjunction with overweight and obesity among children [3,11].

 

Childhood obesity is also positively correlated with low self-esteem, increase sadness, loneliness, and nervousness, which in turn results in the development of eating disorders and risky behaviors, such as smoking or consuming alcohol [33].  It affects relationship with peers, increased stigma, increase social isolation, and possibly poor relationship with family and peers [17].

 

Overweight individuals are at greater risk for a variety of conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers. Therefore, preventing childhood obesity that begins early in life is an important approach to reduce the continuous dramatic upward trends in obesity prevalence.

References

1.      Berry, D., Sheehan, R., Heschel, R., Knafl, K., Melkus, G. & Grey, M. (2004). Family-based interventions for childhood obesity: A review. Journal of Family Nursing, 10 (4), 249-449.

2.      Baughcum, A.E, Chamberlin, L.A. et al., (2000). Maternal perception of overweight preschool children. Pediatrics, 6: 1380-1386.

3.      Birch, L.L. & Fisher, J.O. (1998). Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 101:593-549.

4.      Boyington, J.A. & Johnson, A.A. (2004). Maternal perception of body size as a determinant of infant adiposity in an African-American community. Journal of the National Medical Association, 96 (3), 351-362.

5.      Calfas, K.J., Zabinski, M.F., & Rupp, J. (2000). Practical nutrition assessment in primary care settings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 18 (14), 289-299.

6.      Casey, R. & Rozin, P. (1989). Changing children’s food preferences: Parent opinions. Appetite, 12: 171-182.

7.      Chen, J.L. &  Kennedy, C. (2004). Family functioning, parenting style, Chinese children’s weight status. Journal of Family Nursing, 10 (2), 262-279.

8.      Contento, I.R., Rendell, J.S. & Basch, C.E. (2002). Review and analysis of the evaluation measures used in nutrition education intervention research. Society for Nutrition Education, 34 (1) 2-17.

9.      Faith, M.S., Berkowitz, R.I., Stallings, V.A., et al. (2004). Parental feeding attitudes and styles and body mass index: Prospective analysis of a gene-environment interaction. Pediatrics. Retrieved on December 17, 2004 from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org.

10.  Fisher, J.O. & Birch, L.L. (1999). Restricting access to palatable foods affect children’s behavior, response, food selection, and intake. The American Journal of Medical Nutrition. Retrieved on September 16, 2004 from: http://www.ajcn.org.

11.  Field, A.E., Colditz, G.A., Fox, M.K., Byers, T., Serdula, M. Bosch, R.J., Peterson, K.E. (1998). Comparison of four questionnaires for assessment of fruit and vegetable intake. American Journal of Public Health, 88 (8), 1216-1218.

12.  Goodman, E., Hinden, B.R., Khandelwal, S. (2000). Accuracy of teen and parental reports of obesity and body mass index. Retrieved on November 24, 2004 from http://www.findarticles.com.

13.  Hammond, K. (2001). Overweight children: Is parental nutrition knowledge a factor? Food Review, 24 (2), 18-22.

14.  Hardus, P.M., Van Vuuren, C.L., et al. (2003). Public perceptions of the causes and prevention of obesity among primary school children. International Journal of Obesity, 27, 1465-1471.

15.  Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2003). Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html.

16.  Hodges, E. (2003). A primer on early childhood obesity and parental influence. Pediatric Nursing. Retrieved on September 29, 2004 from http://www.habermas.org/obesity

17.  Jain, A., Sherman, S.N., Chamberlin, L.A., et al. (2001). Why don’t low-income mothers worry about their preschoolers being overweight?  Pediatrics, 107 (5), 1138-1146.

18.  Kolody, B. & Sallis, J.F., (1995). A prospective study of ponderosity, body image, self-concept, and psychological variables in children. Journal of Development & Behavioral Pediatrics, 16: 1-5.

19.  Levy, L., Patterson, R.E., et al. (2000). How well do consumers understand percentage daily value on food labels? American Journal on Health Promotion, 14 (3), 157-160.

20.  Lyle, L.A., Seifert, S., Greenstein, J. & McGovern, P. (2000). How do children’s eating patterns and food choices change overtime? Results from a cohort study. American Journal of Health Promotion, 14 (4), 222-228.

21.  McGraw, S.A., Sellers, D., Stone, E. et al., (2000). Measuring implementation of school programs and policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity among youth. Preventive Medicine, 31, S.86-97.

22.  McPherson, R.S., Hoelscher, D.M., Alexander, M., et al. (2000). Dietary assessment methods among school age children: Validity and reliability. Preventive Medicine, 31, S.11-33.

23.  Mendlein, J.M., Baranowski, T., Pratt, M. (2000). Physical activity and nutrition in children and youth: opportunities for performing assessments and conducting interventions. Preventive Medicine, 31, S.150-153.

24.  Piper, D.L., Moberg, D.P., King, M.J. (2000). The healthy for life project: Behavioral outcomes. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 21 (1), 47-73.

25.  Puska, P., Nishida, C., & Porter, D. (2003). Obesity and overweight. World Health Organization. Retrieved on November 8, 2004 from: http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/gs.obesity.pdf.

26.  Robinson, T.N., Kiernan, M., et al. (2001). Is parental control over children’s eating associated with childhood obesity? Results from a population based sample of third graders. Obesity Research, 9 (5), 206-212.

27.  Rodgers, B.L. & Knafl, K.A. (2001). Concept development in nursing: Foundation, techniques, and applications (2^nd ed). Philadelphia: Saunders.

28.  Rodgers, B.L. (1989). Concept analysis and the development of nursing knowledge: The evolutionary cycle. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 14: 330-335.

29.  Satter, E.M. (1990). The feeding relationship: problems and interventions. The Journal of Pediatrics, 99 (4), e1.

30.  Satter, E.M. (1996). Internal regulation and the evolution of normal growth as the basis for prevention of obesity in children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 96 (9), 860-864.

31.  Stettler, N., Zemel, B.M., et al (2001). Infant, weight gain and childhood overweight status: Multicenter cohort study. Circulation: Journal of he American Heart Association, 104 (17), II-817-II-818.

32.  Siegel, R.V. (2000). Parental perception of their overweight child vs. child’s actual body weight. Unpublished master’s paper. Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.

33.  Strauss, R.S. (2000). Childhood obesity and self-esteem. Pediatrics, 105 (1). Retrieved on September 24, 2004 from http://www.pediatrics.org.

34.  Stunkard, A. & Kaplan, D. (1977). Eating in public places: A review of reports of the direct observation of eating behaviors. International Journal of Obesity, 1: 89-101.

35.  Swadener, S.S. (1994). Nutrition education for preschool age children: A review of research. Nutrition Education for Preschool Age Children. Retrieved September 29, 2004 from http://nal.usda.gov.

36.  Tanasescu, M., Ferris, A.M., Himmelgreen, D.A., et al. (2000). Behavioral factors associated with obesity in Puerto Rican children. American Society for Nutritional Sciences, 1734-1742.

37.  Troiano, R.P. & Flegal, K.M. (1998). Overweight children and adolescents: description, epidemiology, and demographics. Pediatrics, 101: 497-504.

38.  U.S Department of Health & Human Services – Public Health (2004, January 21). Progress review: Nutrition & overweight. Retrieved on December 9, 2004 from: http://www.healthypeople.gov/data/2010prog/focus19/default.htm.

39.  Wadsworth, B.J. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. David McKay Company, Inc., New York, 1974.

40.  Waxman M, Stunkard AJ. (1980). Caloric intake and expenditure of obese boys. The Journal of Pediatrics; 98: 187–93.

 

Other book or journal references used by the author:

 

1.      Morrison, G. & Hark, L. (Eds.). (1996). Medical nutrition and disease. Cambridge: Blackwell Science.