Childhood Obesity/Parental Education/Literature Review - Research Paper Example

To this effect, the following literature review is conducted under themes that have been created out of the specific objectives of the study. Trends of obesity in children There are a number of research findings that relate key variables among children to the tendency of becoming obese. In a recent study, Wilkins et al. (2008), noted that age, gender, economic background and daily activities in which a child may be involved in all pose some level of risk factor to becoming obese. In support of the above, Wutzke et al. (2008) said girls are more likely to be obese as compared to boys.

This is due to hormonal differences between males and females (Bibbins-Domingo et a.l, 2007). The developmental age within which children of school age are most likely to be obese has also been found to be during the early onset of puberty. Again, biological reasons such as hormonal differences have been cited as the reason for this (Crawford et al., 2001). Writing about gender and daily activities in which children may be involved in, Borders, Rohner and Cardarelli (2006) indicated that boys are often active with a lot of physical activity, assuring the burning of fats responsible for obesity.

As far as economic background is concerned, it has been said that children from supposedly rich homes have higher chances of becoming obese because in most cases, parents use food as rewards in such homes. The role of parents in managing obesity at home The role of parents in the management of obesity in children has been clearly defined in most works of literature. It has been said that the parent is the legal owner of the child and so should have absolute control over certain key events in the life of the child that act as risk factors (Daniels, 2006).

For instance food choices in the home are determined by parents as well as the assignment of household chores. Parents are also expected to be friends to their children, knowing all the emotional problems that face the children and having handy solutions to these problems (Lombard, Forster-Cox, & O’Neil, 2006). Due to this position that parents take in the life of their children, using parents as a target audience for health-related advocacy has been identified to be very effective (Loue & Quill, 2001).

There are, however, some researchers who have sounded caution on the use of parents as the key facilitators of change (Crawford et al., 2001). According to researchers with this school of thought, the management of obesity should be approached from a professional perspective where dieticians, doctors, and physical trainers will be involved. Physical exercise as a management principle Physical exercise has been said to be a very useful management principle in the control of obesity in children.

This is because of the direct relationship that physical body exercise has on the burning of fat (Lombard, Forster-Cox, & O’Neil, 2006). Studies have showed that obesity is the result in people accumulating fats that are unused by the body. The frequency and quantity of these fats bring about increase in body weight. Eventually, the body weight becomes more than the body actually needs, and the person becomes obese (Loue & Quill, 2001). From this sequence of contacting obesity, it would be noted that every practice that cuts down on the amount of fat accumulated would be a useful management principle in controlling obesity.

For children, there are specific body exercises that physical trainers find useful in managing obesit