Final Project - Intervention
The childhood obesity is the risk of many pathological conditions in the body. This obesity is a medical problem and it is caused by a number of factors, including a sedentary lifestyle, prolonged stay at the TV and computer, the presence in the sale of cheap but unhealthy foods (pop-food). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the cause of childhood obesity is the excessive intake of calories and a lack of physical activity (1). Thus, most often obesity occurs due to the overeating and the disorders of energy’s consumption control.
The treatment should be done at the doctor’s recommendations and under his control. In this essay, we offer our program to eliminate obesity for children aged 2 to 5 years. In the program takes part group of people, which is the most exposed to the risk of occurrence of childhood obesity in the zip code 85031. This group of people is the Hispanic population. In this area, there is a high percentage of ethnic population that has a below the average household income and the higher education levels are significantly lower than the state average (2). The schools in the area are focusing on academic goals and not emphasizing physical education, so the children in this zip code start to see the effects of this by developing obesity. The program involves 30 children, whom we select. We visit all the kindergartens in the area where we select visually all potential participants. Then the parents of these children are invited, and in the case of agreement, the children are tested at the child’s psychologist and a pediatric endocrinologist. Of all the cases, we select 30, which are held our program for the prevention of obesity. The program duration is 3 months, according to calculations of scientists and nutritionists, this is minimum term, during which the first results appear (3).
The participants of the program in the first place have to change their families nutrition and eating habits. Lose weight is almost impossible without giving up sweets. It is difficult for children to resist the temptations and therefore diet for them is a stress. To support the obese child it is necessary for the whole family to eat healthy and stick to the healthy lifestyle. The experienced nutritionist observe the children during the entire program. They help to choose the individual diet for a child and advise parents how to implement it effectively in life. Every child attends a dietitian every 2 weeks (6 times per course). Also, each child is seen by a psychologist every 2 weeks (6 times per course), which helps parents to make contact with the child for more effective treatment. In addition, the child visits 2 times the experienced pediatric endocrinologist (the first time in the beginning of the program, the second - at the end), which assesses the dynamics of treatment and finds out whether any positive changes are present. Both child’s nutritionists and pediatric endocrinologists help to make the actual power calculation for the child for 3 months.
As for the program itself, it includes the universal items, which are followed by all the children. The alignment of the nutrition is accomplished by reducing the amount of food eaten in one step; instead of sugary drinks (cream soda, Pepsi-Cola, and others), child should only drink water; he has to be sure to eat berries and fruits; protein foods should be meatless, such as chicken or fish; children should eat more vegetables (it gives a feeling of fullness and reduces the sensation of hunger, prevent a constipation in the bowel). For each violation of the regime (for example, child could not resist and ate cake) is installed next sentence: about 15 minutes of twisting of hoop or do 20 times the exercise “bike”. Remember that physical activity is very important in the fight against overweight. If the child is not active in the nature, if he moves slowly, you should enroll him to the swimming pool, to the dancing circle, etc. The main thing that child is engaged in a regular physical activity, that is burdened his body and thereby increased his metabolism, which will be burn adequately all the fat in the body. In particularly difficult cases, obesity treatment should be comprehensive, including diet therapy (low-calorie foods), split meals (5-6 times a day), fasting days (protein, fruit), an active motor mode, systematic physiotherapy, shower, massage, reflexology and physiotherapy treatments. The childhood obesity treatment can be also held in a sanatorium, but only if it is prescribed by a doctor. Children with increased appetite and obesity should be assigned anorectic and laxatives, and thyroid medications.
As a result of this program, we will make significant steps to address obesity in young children aged 2 to 5 years. First of all, we determine the cause of excess weight (both physiological and psychological), will make an assessment of the child’s health at that moment and the assessment of the child’s nutrition. Therefore, will be received a report and specific recommendations for the child’s weight correction. This will help later on in the normalization of weight, and in the monitoring of child’s health. The recent positive rating factors in this program are the dynamics of the child’s weight reduction program for the period, a further correction of the diet and physical workloads for optimal results and improvement of the family climate.
Thus, we can conclude that the childhood obesity can be both be caused and cause different social, psychological and health problems. The development of obesity itself, is determined by two factors - the degree of physical activity and nutrition. The program, proposed in this essay, aims to achieve truly effective results. It is necessary to remember and understand that without significant participation and the application of effort on the part of parents in the process of weight loss of a child the tangible results and positive dynamics will not occur.
References
1. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences. DNPAO, CDC. Cdcgov. 2016; 41(2):275-284.
2. Wang Y, Beydoun M. The Obesity Epidemic in the United States Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, Racial/Ethnic, and Geographic Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis. Epidemiologic Reviews. 2007;29 (1):6-28. doi:10.1093/epirev/mxm007.
3. Strong W, Malina R, Blimkie C et al. Evidence Based Physical Activity for School-age Youth. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2005;146 (6):732-737. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.01.055.
