Obesity is an energy balance disorder whereby the number of calories being consumed exceeds the number of calories being burned. In addition, it can be caused by parents feeding their children with too many calories, for instance, junk food, instead of a proper balanced diet. The excess calories in the child’s body are converted into fats, which accumulate in the child’s body leading to overweight and obesity. In order for one to become non-obese, it will take a few lifestyle changes, which produce a small daily calorie deficit. Preventing childhood obesity will require societal changes to help the modification of diet and physical activities in children. This research proposal will investigate about the ways to educate parents on how to tackle childhood obesity. Obesity is considered to be a global epidemic. The prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst children of all ages is increasing. Due to these alarming increases, tackling obesity has become a priority in many countries, even though it is an uphill task for many parents. There are many states in which children have obesity or are overweight. Around 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are living with obesity and overweight and they are in need of home-based long term care in order to manage their weight (Pruitt 1998).
A study on educating parents on ways to tackle childhood obesity is vital because, obesity has become a global scourge. The research will be used to analyze the obesity scourge and find ways to reduce its prevalence in children. Recent research has proved that, children living with obesity get it from the foods they are served from their homes. Parents prefer feeding children on junk foods rather than food that is cooked from their homes (Gable and Lutz, 2000). Childhood obesity is a problem that needs to be addressed from our homes in order to decrease the increasing numbers of children with obesity. The purpose of this study is to develop ways on educating parents how to deal with children with overweight and obesity. I will research the writings and ideas of influential writers on obesity and understand their perspective on how to handle the issue. The research will then extend to ways to fully handle childhood obesity. Parents are supposed to make sure that their children exercise regularly, and eat a balanced diet. This way, they will be able to stop their children from becoming obese.
The research problem is to find ways to educate parents on how to tackle childhood obesity. The reason I decided to research on this topic is the alarming increase of children with obesity. In addition, childhood obesity is a problem that many children face while growing up, yet, it can be prevented by parents by being cautious about the types of food they give to their children. Across the world, many children suffer from the obesity epidemic, and it is as a result of the food given to them by their parents. Many parents feed children on junk food, thus making them prone to the obesity epidemic. I have chosen this topic because of its relevancy to the modern world and because of its prevalence in children. To understand this topic well and find the best way to deal with childhood obesity, I plan to use Koplan, Liverman, and Kraak’s (2005) book Preventing Childhood Obesity: health in the balance, as it pertains to childhood obesity. For the ways of tackling childhood obesity, I will draw primarily from Mille, Rosenbloom, and Silverstein’s (2004) article, Childhood obesity, and Leann’s (2011), Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. Moreover, I plan to argue that children with obesity are highly influenced by their parents, and the same parents are the ones to do something to prevent their child’s situation (Brown and Ogden, 2004).
Crow and Golan (2004) briefly discuss the ways to handle obese children. How can parents stop their children from becoming obese? Lindsay, Sussner, Kim, and Gortmaker, (2006) asserts that, parents can stop their children from becoming obese by giving them the right food with a balanced diet, in addition to encouraging them to exercise on a daily basis through physical activities.
What exactly causes childhood obesity? How are the parents involved, and what ways should they use to tackle the obesity problem? Taking these questions as my starting point in my proposal, I hope to explore the ways to educate parents on how to handle childhood obesity and perhaps find a permanent solution to the childhood obesity plague. Parents can determine whether their child becomes obese or not depending on how they feed them as they grow up (Li and Hooker, 2010). Parents should take good care of their children unless they want them to be obese for the rest of their lives.
Through completing the targeted research about childhood obesity, I believe that I will be able to give a more comprehensive solution to parents on how to tackle childhood obesity. The outcome of the research will change the way parents feed their children, and in the end help them prevent their children from becoming obese.
In conclusion, I will be conducting a close reading and research on my topic and spell out to parents the best ways to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic. The goal of this research will be accomplished as I will not limit myself in my research. I will explore all the ways to prevent childhood obesity, and what parents can do to prevent their children from becoming obese. This is because, obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, yet it is preventable.
References
Miller, J. Rosenbloom, A., and Silverstein, J. (2004). "Childhood obesity". J. Clinic. Endocrinol Metab. 89 (9): 4211–8.
Lindsay, A. C., Sussner, K. M., Kim, J. and Gortmaker, S. (2006). The Role of Parents in Preventing Childhood Obesity. Future of Children, 16(1), 169-186.
Leann, B. L. (2011). Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/alltitles/docDetail.action?docID=10520724&p00=childhood obesity risk facto
Li, J. and Hooker, N. H. (2010). Childhood Obesity and Schools: Evidence from the National Survey of Children's Health. Journal of School Health, 80(2), 96-103. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.
Pruitt, D. (1998). Your Child. New York: Harper and Collins.
Brown, R. and Ogden, J. (2004) Children’s eating attitudes and behavior: a study of the modeling and control theories of parental influence. Health Education Research, 19(3) pg 261-271.
Crow, S. and Golan, M. (2004) Targeting Parents Exclusively in the Treatment of Childhood Obesity: Long-Term Results. Obesity Research, 12(1) pg 357-361.
Gable, S. and Lutz, S. (2000). Household, Parent, and Child Contributions to Childhood Obesity. Family Relations, 49(3) pg 293-300.
Koplan, J.P., Liverman, C.T. and Kraak, V.I. (2005) Preventing Childhood Obesity: health in the balance. Washington, DC: The National Academic Press.
