Childhood obesity in elementry school ahe - Research Paper Example

? Childhood Obesity in Elementary School Age Childhood obesity in elementary school age children is increasingly becomingone of the most prevalent concerns in the US today, with a large proportion of children who lie within the elementary school age bracket suffering from overweight and allied health complications. Childhood obesity in elementary school age children has been on a dramatic rise over the past few years, and has now reached alarming incidence rates, not only in America alone, but also in other places around the world. A number of notoriously recurring risk factors cause the unprecedented increase in cases of childhood obesity in elementary school age children, including, but not limited to physical inactivity and poor nutrition. This paper will examine the risk factors associated with childhood obesity in elementary school age children, and the prevention strategies used, by evaluating empirical evidences in previous research through a detailed literature review process (Kuhle et al, 2010). Incidence rates Lewis and Filpes (2008) argue that incidences of obesity in elementary school age children have been on an upwards trend over the past years, and today, obesity in this group remains to be the most pervasive health crisis affecting children in the US. A survey in a South Florida elementary school reveals the Body Mass Index percentiles of a sample size of 502 elementary students, out of which, 183 children are obese, and 86 are overweight, while 218 have normal weight, but the remaining 15 are underweight. Harris et al (2009) demonstrate that the prevalence rates of obesity in elementary school age children in the US has more than tripled over the past five decades since the proportion of obese elementary school children between 6-11 years has risen from 4% in 1971-’74 to nearly 18.8% in 2003-’04. Berger et al (2011) presents statistics from a study in 2003 that estimated over 43% of the children in New York public elementary school system to be overweight and nearly 24% to be overweight. Wojcicki et al (2012) compares the obesity prevalence rates between the Latino and non-Hispanic Caucasian elementary school children and posits that the Latino children that fall in this group have higher obesity prevalence rates than the Caucasian ones. Hollar et al (2010) examines that obesity prevalence rates in elementary school age children in the US are still high, especially among African Americans, Hispanic, and Mexican Americans. Causes of obesity Many sources address the risk factors that predispose elementary school age children to obesity; according to the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, the primary risk factors for obesity in elementary school age children are physical inactivity and poor nutrition (Lewis and Filpes, 2008). Children’s lack of physical exercises is a great risk factor because inactive children do not get opportunities to burn the extra calories they ingest; poor nutrition, on the other hand, leads to excess consumption of inappropriate foods that are high in calories and fats, leading to obesity. Harris et al (2009) also highlight physical inactivity as a major risk factor contributing to the pervasive increase of obesity in elementary school age children, and describe this condition as a serious public health concern. Lack of physical exercises encourages elementary school age children to slump into obesity because their bodies, unlike those of active peers have no use for excess calories and fats, which end up accumulating and causing obesity. Yin et al (2012) associates the dramatic increase in prevalence rates of childhood obesity in elementary school age children to the increased exposure to risk factors that contribute to obese during non-school hours, as well as a lack of supervised physical exercises. They also highlight the popularity of video games and the pervasive preoccupation with electronic communication as other significant factors that predispose elementary school age children to obesity. During non-school hours, children are exposed to obesity risk factors such as poor nutrition and dietary options that are heavy in fat and calorie content, and physical exercises are replaced by video games that totally undermine physical activity in children; preoccupation with electronic communication such as social networking further encourage children not to slump into obesity. According to Wojcicki et al (2012), there is an increased obese risk in Latino elementary school children due to poor dietary practices and lowered physical activity, particularly in households that have stayed longer in the US. Compared to the Latinos in their home countries, Latinos in the US progressively become unable to keep their elementary school age children physically fit and on proper nutrition, thereby leading to obesity. Hollar et al (2010) argue that childhood obesity in elementary school age children can be attributed to factors such as poor economic status, poor nutrition, and food insufficiency in households; elementary school children from poor economic backgrounds are more likely to be subjected to poor nutrition and hunger at times, thereby becoming obese due to poor nutrition. Poor households can barely afford basic food supplies, leave alone comprehensive nutrition due to wide social inequalities that lead to deprivation of equal opportunities for decent health livelihoods, thus, the high prevalence rates of obesity among the poor respectively. Mori, Armada and Willcox (2012) posit that the rapid increase in the prevalence rates of childhood obesity in elementary school age children can be attributable to factors such as high intake of energy-dense foods that have high fat and sugar concentrations but low in vitamins, minerals, in addition to other essential micro-nutrients. They also point out the declining level of physical activity due to a pervasive preoccupation with sedentary lifestyles, changing modes of transportation, as well as increasing urbanization as other causative factors leading to the high incidence rates of childhood obesity in elementary school age group. Effects of Obesity There are a number of risk factors associated with obesity, particularly in elementary school age children; according to Harris et al (2009), the pervasive increase in the Body Mass Index is a worrying trend because it predisposes the elementary school age children to weight-related health issues and complications such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Most of these weight-related complications are serious life-long illnesses that have no permanent remedy and individuals can only hope to manage their progression to final stages; in that case, active prevention of these illnesses is a far much better resolve. Hollar et al (2010); on the other hand, associates childhood obesity with poor academic performance, lower IQs, and lower test scores in elementary school age children. The academic performance of severely obese children may not be as good as that of their normal weight counterparts at the same level. Perhaps what contributes to the low academic performance of obese children is fact that they are likely to suffer low self-esteem that inevitably impedes their cognitive capabilities in test scores significantly. Bruss et al (2010) also supports previous findings that childhood obesity in elementary school children is a crucial risk factor that predisposes the group to adult obesity, cardiovascular disease, as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Subsequent research indicates that childhood obesity is more likely to persist into adulthood, as individuals who are not active in their childhood are more likely to be inactive in their adulthood as well. Mori, Armada and Willcox (2012) contend that childhood obesity due to a shortage of physical activity in elementary school children results to high blood pressure, and a weak heart, as well as, passive, inactive adults. Physical activities enhance blood circulation and strong heart muscle structures, thus leading to the overall health and wellbeing of individuals. Berger et al (2011) argues that overweight and obese children are highly predisposed to risk factors that can result to respiratory, metabolic, in addition to, cardiovascular illness; all these ailments can be avoided completely by keeping up with physical fitness through regular physical practices. Prevention of Obesity Obesity in elementary school age children can be contained through a number of strategies: Hollar et al (2010) propose the teaching of essential health and nutrition practices, and physical activities to influence the health of this group. Wojcicki et al (2012) also suggests that interventions to curb obesity in elementary school age children should encompass a change in nutrition, to ensure that each child gets a nutritious breakfast before school. Telford et al (2012) contends that regular physical activity should be emphasized in controlling childhood obesity, and Physical Education is an ideal vehicle through which physical activity can be promoted in elementary schools. According to the Physical Activity guidelines for Americans of 2008, the elementary school age children must be allocated a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity that encompasses muscle and bone-strengthening activities every day (Yin et al, 2010). A limited amount of time for physical activity has the potential of rectifying the obesity situation among elementary school age group remarkably. Harris et al (2009) supposes that to reverse the trend in the pervasive increase in the prevalence rates of obesity in the elementary school age children, the group will need to increase energy expenditure while lowering energy intake accordingly. In this regard, interventions seeking to increase physical activity and enhance nutrition form the foundational basis for managing obesity in the group. Physical activities provide channels through which surplus energy can be utilized effectively rather than accumulating in the body system leading to obesity due to inactivity; excess calories are burnt out through vigorous physical activities leading to healthy bodies. Lewis and Filpes (2008) argues that public schools offer a natural environment that can help to monitor, and even reverse the trend that has led to the increase in obesity incidence rates in elementary school age children. Schools need to put a lot of emphasis on proper nutrition, healthy body weight, as well as, daily physical education as strategies for curbing high prevalence rates of childhood obesity in elementary school age children. The school environment should be enhanced strategically to promote health rather than to merely focusing on standardized testing because childhood obesity threatens the health and wellbeing of elementary school age children. Mori, Armada and Willcox (2012) present the Japan experience in handling childhood obesity in elementary school age children; they highlight active travel to school such as walking and cycling as important physical activities that have been adopted to tackle childhood obesity in the elementary school age group. Many developed countries, and some cities have promoted walking to school as a strategy to deal with the childhood obesity menace that threatens the health and wellbeing of elementary school age children. Throughout Japan, most urban areas have a walking-to-school practice and children in both the elementary and junior school system walk to school from homes every day instead of riding in their parents’ cars. Berger et al (2011) states that the New York City implemented multiple interventions including establishing regulations that require enhance nutrition, increased physical activity time, in addition to, limited screen time, to tackle childhood obesity in elementary school age children. New York schools also provide comprehensive nutrition education training and physical activity training components, as well as on-site nutrition education workers; elementary classroom teachers have been trained to provide in-class physical activity recess breaks. Discussion The literature review has revealed a number of things, first among them, that the prevalence rates or incidences of childhood obesity in elementary school age children in America has been on an upwards trend over the years. The pervasive increase in incidences of childhood obesity in the elementary school age group is a worrying trend because it threatens the group’s overall health and wellbeing, and performance levels. A considerable proportion of the literature analyzed supports the conclusion that indeed, a significant percentage of elementary school age children are obese or overweight and these statistics are subject to further adjustments upwards with time (Antal et al, 2009). Overall, the high incidences of childhood obesity in the elementary school age bracket are attributable to a number of factors, but key among them include the lack of adequate physical practice, poor nutrition, and sedentary lifestyles. A common trend in most schools nowadays, is the overemphasis on test scores at the expense of active play and exercises through physical activities such as games, which lead to energy expenditure in body systems. School programs are undermining physical activities, thereby encouraging elementary school age children to be inactive, and this inevitably leads to childhood obesity. Nonetheless, poor nutrition is a major risk factor because many households are feeding their children on diets that have energy-dense foods that are high in fat and sugar but low in vitamins, minerals, in addition to other essential micronutrients. Sedentary lifestyles such as long hours in front of TV and computers playing media games have led to the dismissal of active physical practice in elementary school age children, thereby encouraging this group to slump into obesity, particularly because their bodies are not exercised. Childhood obesity is likely to lead into the emergence of other serious, life-threatening illnesses and health issues such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, respiratory complications, among others. A number of interventions have been proposed and even implemented in various developed countries and in major urban centers in solving childhood obesity in elementary school age children with remarkable results. Key interventions include the reinforcement of physical exercise through the reintroduction of physical activity in the teaching curriculums, and the emphasis on proper nutrition in schools. Physical activities involve energy expenditure while proper nutrition regulates the energy gained in the body system, thereby leading to a health Body Mass Index and curbing childhood obesity altogether. References  Antal M, Peter S, Biro L, et al. (2009). Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity on the basis of body mass index and body fat percentage in hungarian schoolchildren: Representative survey in metropolitan elementary schools. Ann Nutr Metab.;54(3):171-6. Berger M, Konty K, Day S, et al. 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