What Happens in Early Years of Childrens Life Possesses a Profound Impact on Their Future Health - Essay Example

Introduction Health represents a positive concept highlighting social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities and is a reflection of the social and mental well-being of people within the community. Childhood obesity has, in the last two decades, grown to become a challenging national epidemic. The percentage of adolescents and children defined as overweight has more than doubled in the last two decades. Paradoxically, childhood obesity remains one of the easiest medical conditions to recognize, but most complex conditions to treat. The UK has countering child obesity epidemic in which doctors even treat babies as young as 10 months old. Statistics indicate that close to 1000, children referred to hospitals within the last three years owing to their weight. The overarching theme of this essay is that childhood obesity can be highlighted as two conditions in which disparities in children’s health is particularly evident, and the underpinning cause of disparities, which can be tied to individual, social, and environmental factors. Discussion Obesity can be defined as an excessively high amount of body fat relative to the lean body mass. Overweight represents an increased body weight relative to height. In the event that parents are obese, there is a high likelihood (50% chance) that a child will also be obese. Although genetics remains one of the contributing factors to obesity, research has shown that poor eating habits (overeating), family eating patterns, lack of exercise, and lack of exercise contribute to the inability to sustain a healthy weight (Chen and Escarce 2010, p.53). Overweight children may be predisposed to the development of numerous health conditions later in life including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are linked to heart disease during adulthood. Furthermore, Type 2 diabetes has increased considerably among overweight children and adolescents. Obese children are also susceptible to suffering from orthopaedic complications including abnormal bone growth, pain, and degenerative disease. The mental health effects of childhood obesity include social discrimination and low self-esteem. This contributes to easing at school difficulties encountered in playing sports, fatigue, as well as other obesity-linked problems that severely impact on obese children’s well-being. Risk factors to childhood obesity The causes of childhood obesity vary with some researchers indicating that socioeconomic factors play a big role in fuelling obesity among children. A wide range of factors that directly and indirectly impact on child health development and wellbeing includes physical health, child care, quality of parenting, housing, education, neighbourhoods, and access to services within the community should be regarded as highly as highly important. Other advocacy groups have accused the mass media as the main culprit for marketing junk food to children. The socioeconomic status, especially income, education, and the availability of social and individual supports, can be highlighted as some of the most powerful factors influencing childhood obesity. Disparities associated with race/ethnicity can be considered to be the outcome of environmental factors including discrimination and racism, as well as set health behaviours such as lack of health care of adherence to health instructions owing to cultural or language preferences of some groups. Families play a critical role in shaping children’s early life experiences, the prevention of obesity among young children demand effective approaches for working with families. It is essential to acknowledge that family members bear primary responsibility for, influence on, the health, wellbeing, and development of children, as well as the community and those who work in the broader environment where children live. Family meals foster healthy habits and consistently possess a healthy impact on child nutrition and eating habits. The impact of child health policies and provision on the well-being of the child and family Obesity among children and adolescents spread across lines of race, socioeconomic status and gender. Societal factors also play a big role as the majority of neighbourhoods do not have healthy alternatives to fast food outlets. Numerous social and environmental factors bear negative influences on the physical activity and eating behaviours of children. Financial and time factors can be highlighted as some of the factors that force families to minimize food costs and meal preparation time, yielding to increased to increased consumption of pre-packaged convenience foods that are high in fat and calories. The family structure also plays a role in childhood obesity, whereby children from single-mother families or no siblings manifested large increases in BMI and the risk of obesity (Wieting 2008, p.545). Majority of health organizations and advocacy groups call for legislation that would respond to the growing problem of childhood obesity. Nevertheless, advocacy groups, especially those allied to food and beverage and advertising industries call for self-regulation. Some of the strategies that can be employed to curb childhood obesity include school meal programs (Gupta, Wit, and McKeown 2007, p.667). Other strategies include regulating the nutritional content of majority of snacks and high-calories foods, or limiting high-calories foods, and restricting advertising on television and schools usually encounters strong opposition. The health sectors have a responsibility to provide services to mitigate the health effects of poverty, and articulate the health connected significance of child poverty, in collaboration with other sectors to propel public policy. Guaranteeing that all children possess access to health insurance can be regarded as one of the most commonly identified approach given that, health insurance is a strong predictor of children’s access to health care services and means of responding to health problems early in life. Effectively minimizing health disparities will necessitate going beyond the health care system, and addressing the socioeconomic disparities that underlie health disparities among their memberships and their communities. Healthy child programs feature such aspects such as an enhanced focus on antenatal care, a major emphasis on support for parents, early identification of at-risk families, new vaccination programs, and an aggressive focus on changed public health priorities (Wright et al. 2001, p.1280). The core emphasis of health and development review centres on: appraising family strengths, risks, and needs; assessing growth and development; and, awarding parent the opportunity to discuss their aspirations and concerns. Childhood obesity sets children on a course towards chronic disease such as diabetes and heart disease later in life. A reduction in childhood obesity necessitates removal of barriers and empowering families to seize control of their health; educate citizens to view obesity as a serious medical; ensure that the fear of an obesity stigma does not obscure the vital need to combat obesity; redesign the healthcare system to treat obesity such as a preventable medical condition; and, engage both employers and communities to invest in fostering wellness. # 2 Immunizations Immunization schedules for infants and children are designed to protect children and infants early in life, a period in which children and infants are most vulnerable and prior to exposure to potentially life-threatening disease. The recommended vaccines avail protection from close to 16 vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, bacterial meningitis, polio, and whopping cough. Although, babies receive some immunity (protection) from their mother within the last few weeks of pregnancy, the antibodies usually decrease overtime, which in turn, exposes infants to disease. Hence, adhering to an immunization schedule is pertinent to availing immunity early in life prior to exposure to serious disease at a period when they are most vulnerable. The immunization of individual children also aids to safeguard the health of the community (Robertson 2002, p.90). Some of the routine childhood vaccines administered to protect children from some of the outlined disease include: DTaP (protects against Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus); MMR (protects children against Mumps, Rubella, and Measles); HepA (protects children against Hepatitis A); HepB (protects children against Hepatitis B); Hib (offer protection against Haemophilus influenza type b); Flu (protects against influenza); Polio; RV (offers protection against Rotavirus); and, Varicella (offers protection against Chickenpox). Since the publication by a British doctor, a study in 1998 implying that some vaccines may contribute to autism, some parents have been declining to have their children vaccine, or demanding an “alternative” immunization schedule have been increasing year by year. Although, the paper in question was discredited, and scores of peer-reviewed studies failed to link vaccines to autism, the suspicion that vaccines are dangerous has remained deeply entrenched. Research has guaranteed the safety of today’s vaccine regimen and maintains that vaccines are neither toxic, nor taxing to the healthy immune systems. Immunizations have had a significant impact on improving the health of children in the UK. Although, the prevalence of most of vaccine-preventable disease in the UK has been low such diseases have devastating consequences across the world where they persist. In 2008, the WHO approximated that close to 1.5 million deaths among children less than five years occurred to disease that could be prevented by routine vaccination. This represented about 17% of the global mortality among children fewer than five years of age. It is essential that communities continue to protect the children with vaccines since outbreaks of vaccines-preventable disease can and do occasionally manifest. MMR MMR is a vaccine administered against measles, rubella, and mumps. The vaccine is a “3-in-1” as it safeguards children against measles rubella, and mumps caused by a virus, and carry the potential to be serious illnesses. The vaccine contains live, but weak viruses of the three diseases. Consequent to the administration of the vaccine, the children's bodies, learn to attack the measles, mumps, or rubella virus in the event that the child is exposed to it. Children should get MMR vaccination when aged 12-15 months, or 4-6 years (Robertson 2002, p.90). Health practitioners may also recommend that the child receive a vaccine that combines MMR with the chickenpox (VAR). In the UK 2013 immunization schedule, the first dose of MMR can be administered between the 12 and 13 months (combined as one injection (Priorix® or MMRII®) while the second of MMR may be administered between 3 years and five years. Some of mild problems associated with MMR vaccine include fever, swelling of glands in the neck, and mild rash. Rare, but severe problems associated with administration of MMR vaccine include serious allergic reaction, extended seizures, or coma. # 3 ASD There is significant overlap among diverse forms of autism. The broad variation in symptoms among children with autism has yielded to the concept of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The term spectrum is employed because the symptoms of ASD can differ from one individual to another, ranging from mild to severe. In England, statistics indicate that one in every a hundred children diagnosed with ASD. Every child with ASD manifests his or her own pattern of autism. Children with ASD also manifest other conditions such as epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy, and dyspraxia. Early detection of autism is important as it aids a child with autism to make significant gains in social and language skills. The prominent signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder may be anchored on three different areas of a child’s life, namely: social interaction; communication (verbal and nonverbal); and, behaviours and interests. In some children, the loss of language is the core impairment while, in others, unusual behaviours appear to be the dominant factors (Rice et al. 2011, p.1). ASD encompasses Asperger’s syndrome (AS), autistic disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder. Children with AS usually become obsessively interested in a single topic or object Children with AS often learn their preferred subject. AS can be considered mild relative to other ASDs as children with AS regularly have normal to above average intelligence, which explains its description as “high functioning” autism. Nevertheless, the condition predisposes children to anxiety and depression as they enter adulthood. Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) is a form of catch-all category for children who manifest some autistic behaviour, but who fail to fit into other categories. Children with Rett syndrome begin developing normally, but start to lose their social and communication skills. From the age 1-4 years, repetitive hand movements replace purposeful utilization of the hands. Childhood disintegrative disorder usually develops normally for at least three years but later loses most of their communication and social skills. Autism Autism is an intricate neurobehavioral disorder that details impairments in social interaction and developmental language, repetitive behaviours, and rigid communication skills. Autism usually appears during the initial three years of life; however, some children manifest signs from birth. Autism is prevalent among boys relative to girls and occurs across racial, ethnic, or social boundaries (El-Fishawy 2010, p.83). In most cases, family income, lifestyle, and educational level do not effect on a child’s possibility of being autistic. Autism covers a large spectrum of symptoms, levels of impairment, and skills and varies in severity from a handicap that limits otherwise normal life to a devastating disorder that may necessitate institutional care. Majority of children with autism may be cognitively impaired to some level typified by uneven skill development. Autistic children may also have problems I certain areas such as the capability to speak and relate to others and may also have unevenly developed skills within other areas such as solving math problems, creating music, drawing, or memorizing facts. Presently, there is no cure for ASD; nevertheless, there is a broad range of treatments such as specialist education and behavioural programmes, which can be employed to improve symptoms (El-Fishawy 2010, p.84). The number of diagnosed cases of ASD has risen within the last two decades; however this does not mean that the condition is becoming widespread. # 4 HIV HIV infection rates have reduced by third since 2001 and halved among children owing to improved access to medicine. Close to 2.3 million people were infected globally in 2012, which represents a 33% drop to that in 2001. In the same period, 260,000 children in 2012 were infected, which represents a 52% drop to the recorded infections in 2001. The drop in the number of infections has mainly been linked to the widespread availability of ARVs. Increased access of ARVs among pregnant, HIV-positive women has reduced the likelihood of women infecting their unborn children. According to UNAIDS, the drop in infections represented a fall from 321% in 2009 to 9% in 2012. Towards the end of 2011, an estimated 34 million people were living with HIV globally, with two-thirds of the subjects living in sub-Saharan Africa. This mirrors the continued significant number of new HIV infections and a considerable expansion of access to ARVs that has a played a big role in reducing AIDS-related deaths, especially in recent years. The number of people dying of AIDS-related illnesses has dramatically fallen to 1.7 million in 2011, which is a drop from a peak of 2.2 million in the mid-2000s. In the UK, 96,000 people lived with HIV by the end of 2011, which represent an increase from 91,500 in 2010. In 2011, about 73,660 people living with a diagnosed HIV infection sought care in the UK, which represent an increase from 69, 350 people in 2010 (Health Protection Agency 2012, p.17). In 2011, 684,510 pregnant women underwent screening for HIV in England which represented an uptake of 97%. Of all children born to either a diagnosed or undiagnosed HIV infected women in the UK between 2005 and 2011, only 2% were HIV-infected. Nevertheless, the HIV transmission rate to children born to women with diagnosed HIV infection was Read More