A Family Health Issue on Adolescent - Term Paper Example

A Family Health Issue on Adolescent Name: Institution: Obesity in Adolescence During the globalization wave, that has spread world living styles across all societies, access and the reach of information about relatively least known diseases has brought lifestyle related ailments at the forefront. In this context, obesity, which a lifestyle related childhood disease has increasingly gained tangible attention from healthcare quarters for numerous reasons: association of excess weight with increased risks of obesity-related chronic diseases. Adolescence obesity exacerbates the health threat of excess weight in adulthood, which predisposes young victims into a pronounced danger of developing a myriad of chronic diseases common with obese people (Crawford, Jeffery, Ball & Brug, 2010). Of importance to reckon with in this particular case is that adolescence obesity among Australians correlates positively with increased cases of childhood obesity, a trend that is similar for many developed countries including the United States. Obesity in adolescence puts adolescents in the risk of psychosocial problems including but not limited to low self-esteem and reduced social networking or sociability. Healthcare providers and policy makers in the health sector, who are charged with the duty of ensuring sustainable wellbeing of children, are faced with challenge of estimating the burden of childhood and adolescence obesity in order to design strategies of ridding the health menace. They are required to establish interventions that can not only reduce but also help sustain the non-prevalence. This premise implies the requirement of proper professional understanding of the trends, extent of the problem, and other contributing factors. As projected through anecdotal arguments by Cinelli and O’Dea (2009), about sixteen percent of young adolescents in Australia are either overweight or obese. The trend essential reflects a predicament of high prevalence of adulthood obesity in the society. Such predictions require strategic national approach for addressing the problem of obesity among the adolescents and children in order to pave way for a future of obese free adults in the country. Although research is progressively interrogating the reality about claims of exacerbated risk of heart diseases and diabetes, obesity features prominently as a primary candidate of causative agents of these diseases worldwide. An examination of obesity cases among adolescents, the predisposing factors, and other concomitant health concerns appears a crucial knowledge capstone, which would produce applicable directives in support of nursing interventions to control the prevalence. Prevalence and the Challenges Posed by Obesity The number of adolescents in Australia facing the obese and related health threats is alarming because it is estimated that sixteen percent lie in the brackets of being overweight and obese (Cinelli & O’Dea, 2009). Research in this area places prevalence at relatively higher levels among young boys compared girls of same age brackets. Adolescents from the Pacific Islanders backgrounds have been found to have significantly higher rates of obese prevalence compared to other cultural groups in Australia (O’Dea, 2010). This attributed to the low socioeconomic status associated with such cultural groups. The higher prevalence rates among males in adolescents compared to females is attributed to the different ways the genders spend their free time. According to Hardy, Dobbins, Denney-Wilson, Okely and Booth (2006), a study about the time spend by teenagers in Australia indicated that the adolescent boys spend more time on small screen recreational activities such as television, computer, DVD and video when compared with girls. The high prevalence in use of the small screen recreation partially explains the difference in the gender bias obesity prevalence among the students in Australia in that it reduces time spent in physical activities among adolescent boys. The growth in the number of adolescents affected by the obesity has concomitantly led to the high number of adolescents being diagnosed with obese related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular complications and type II diabetes in Australia. Complications associated with obesity among adolescents lead to a significant financial burdens on the families, particularly in the management of conditions such as diabetes and heart diseases (Crawford et al., 2010). The economic productivity of the parents with affected adolescents may also be greatly influenced by the obesity problem, because the children demand more attention in order to manage the conditions effectively. Psychosocial problems such as low self-esteem and depression not only affect the victims but also family members. Contributing Factors The health of many adolescents is compromised by the development of persistent and unhealthy behavioral patterns such as poor eating habits, limited physical activity, and tobacco use. The social morbidities and unhealthy behavior patterns adversely affect not only their lives in adolescence but also are associated with later adulthood diseases and mortality. Ironically, studies have revealed higher obesity rates among adolescents from low-come families than adolescents from wealthier families (Crawford et al., 2010). This particularly attributed to the limited time committed in taking care of the children as most low income earners spent plenty of time away from the children as they try to make ends meet. In this case, parents have little time to control what the children do with majority spending time indoors with junk food. The diet for adolescence among teenagers from low income families also contribute immensely to the development of obesity because many feed on foods with high calories than adolescents in the high income families. Health practitioners have established genetic influence on child’s weight, which could be used to explain the trend of childhood obesity contributing to adolescence obesity (Jelalian & Steele, 2008). Obesity has also been seen to run in some families, which supports the findings that obesity could genetically be determined. Inherited traits can influence youth behavior and weight outcomes among the adolescents. However, the specific genes associated with obesity are yet to be identified despite the hypothesis that obesity development involves multiple genes in the human genome. Nevertheless, obesity during adolescence is mainly attributed to behavioral changes, which greatly influence the weight outcome despite any genetic predisposition to obesity. Changes in eating behavior and physical activity among adolescents are the greatest contributors of obesity among the adolescents. Behavior related obesity mainly results from high intake of calorie rich food accompanied by reduced energy expenditure among the adolescents. Adolescents often become preoccupied with activities that do not match high-energy expenditure such as the current trends in small screens recreation (Hardy et al., 2006). The change of lifestyle is another factor contributing to adolescence and childhood obesity as parents opt for their children to be picked from home by school buses for security reasons as well as lifestyle changes. Despite, developing poor eating habits, many Australian adolescents rarely walk to school thereby limiting their involvement in physical activities. Recommended Interventions It is imperative now that behavioral changes apparently drive the risk of becoming obese at teenage in Australia, strategic nursing interventions on curbing the condition should be greatly focused on behavioral change. Interventions that promote changes in physical activity and dietary intake have received evidentiary support from many clinical trials. The main challenge in the implementation of behavioral change interventions is the determination of the most effective delivery methods, especially between primary care setting and the community setting (Jelalian & Steele, 2008). The community setting behavior change intervention among adolescents can be the most effective but nurses need to establish techniques for attracting and retaining, and motivating adolescents in the behavior change initiatives so that maximum results can be attained. Education and provision of adequate information on the risks associated with obesity among the adolescents can also play an important role in preventing the obese problem. Information about genetic risk and physiological variables related to weight regulation has the potential to inform prevention and intervention programs as well as enabling people adopt the right behavior and lifestyle to reduce the risk of developing the obese condition (Crawford et al., 2010). Knowledge about any genetic predisposition among the adolescents can also help target population adapt to behaviors that present the minimum risk for the manifestation of the overweight condition. Since childhood obesity is a major contributor in the increased cases of obesity in adolescence, nurses should make a point of educating mothers about the best way to prevent childhood obesity (O’Dea & Eriksen, 2010). Mothers can have difficulties in setting limits with their children around food hence the need for parenting guidelines. The parental guidelines can be broadcast or delivered to parents through the community-based intervention over the condition. Taming childhood obesity will greatly reduce the cases of obesity in adolescence, as most cases are progression from the childhood stage. Provision of adequate knowledge to parents about normal child development, eating behaviors and healthy food habits is crucial in the prevention of both childhood and adolescent obesity (Cinelli, & O’Dea, 2009). Conclusion The rising cases of adolescence obesity in Australia are a major health concerns that require both nursing interventions and community efforts. The high prevalence can be attributed to a constellation of factors including genetic, behavioral, sociological, and economic factors. However, behavioral changes and reduction in physical activities can be identified as the primary contributors to adolescence obesity. Studies have identified that changes in behavior during adolescence including development of poor eating habits significantly contribute to unexpected weight outcomes. Therefore, it is recommended that nursing interventions over adolescence obesity should focus on behavioral change and controlling of childhood obesity, which greatly influence its development. Parents should be provided with adequate information on normal child development; ways of controlling eating habits for children and healthy foods that can assist in preventing. Finally, nurses should develop motivational techniques to assist adolescents to adapt to the right behavior and eating habits. References Cinelli, R., & O’Dea, J. (2009). Body image and obesity among Australian adolescents from indigenous and Anglo-European backgrounds: Implications for health promotion and obesity prevention among Aboriginal youth. Health Education Research, 24 (6), 1059- 1068. Crawford, D., Jeffery, R., Ball, K., & Brug, J. (2010). Obesity epidemiology: From aetiology to public health. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hardy, L., Dobbins, A., Denney-Wilson, A., Okely, D., & Booth, L. (2006) Descriptive epidemiology of small screen recreation among Australian adolescents. Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, 42 (11), 709-714. Jelalian, E., & Steele, R. (2008). Handbook of childhood and adolescent obesity. London: Springer. O’Dea, J., & Eriksen, M. (2010). Childhood obesity prevention: International research, controversies, and interventions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. O’Dea, J. (2010). Studies of obesity, body image and related health issues among Australian adolescents: How can programs in schools interact with and complement each other? Journal of Student Wellbeing, 4(2), 3-16. Read More