Quantitative Study
The systematic review under consideration concerns the articles examining the effect of exercise interventions on body composition and cardiometabolic risk in overweight and obese adolescents. The review suggests that structured physical activity in teenagers is positively correlated with reduced body mass index (BMI) and decreased body fat mass (Stoner et al., 2016). Stoner et al. (2016) note the preventative value of exercise intervention and its effect on systolic blood pressure, blood lipids, and glucose regulation. However, the evidence on the impact of exercise on cardiometabolic risk factors remains limited. The review implies that BMI is not sufficient for measuring the effect of physical activity and that the problem of obesity should not be considered in isolation.
Qualitative Study
The systematic review pertaining to the topic of obesity in adolescents concerns the existing facilitators and barriers to discussing the weight of a child with parents. Bradbury et al. (2018) state that both facilitators and barriers correlate with the intrapersonal and interpersonal level factors, including staff and parental factors and professional-patient interactions. The review suggests that ethical issues may arise when discussing the weight of a child due to the normalization of overweight, different cultural perceptions of healthy weight, and the economic environment (Bradbury et al., 2018). It is implied that future interventions should focus on the intrapersonal and interpersonal level factors and that a new protocol for child weight management with clear responsibilities for the involved parties needs to be developed.
Impact on Recommendations
Quantitative Recommendations
The poster recommendation focused on encouraging schools to include a comprehensive resistance training or physical activity program to prevent the development of obesity in adolescents and reduce BMI. An additional suggestion is provided for family-based treatment programs as children can benefit from social support. However, the systematic review argues that obesity is a complex issue affected by the interaction of numerous systems and is determined by various environmental, social, and economic factors (Stoner et al., 2016). Thus, ethical issues may arise when promoting physical activity for students at school and home, as other factors are not accounted for. Furthermore, exercise interventions may be rendered ineffective if these factors are not considered.
Qualitative Recommendations
The poster recommendations suggest that school and community health programs provide different health services to children and involve parents in preventative child weight management. Bradbury et al. (2018) note that engaging parents or guardians in health management can be challenging and is accompanied by a variety of ethical issues. Therefore, additional intervention should be considered in order to facilitate a constructive dialogue between parents and health care professionals and address barriers that may arise from the trend of normalizing obesity and economic and cultural factors.
Recommendation Changes and Additions
Considering the information provided by the discussed systematic reviews, several additional recommendations need to be added to the poster, including the ethical concerns of exercise intervention programs for children and adolescents. Thus, it should be stated that obesity is a systemic problem, and physical activity is one of the factors affecting it. When designing an exercise program for children, their environmental, social, and economic factors should be considered. Failure to account for these factors would be unethical, as weight issues may arise from child neglect or abuse. Furthermore, the poster should address how challenging a conversation with parents may be for health care professionals and what ethical concerns are associated with it. Therefore, an additional recommendation should be given on how to approach cultural differences in the perception of a healthy weight and initiate the conversation on the economic situation of a family and their view on obesity.
References
Bradbury, D., Chisholm, A., Watson, P. M., Bundy, C., Bradbury, N., & Birtwistle, S. (2018). Barriers and facilitators to health care professionals discussing child weight with parents: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies.British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(3), 701–722. Web.
Stoner, L., Rowlands, D., Morrison, A., Credeur, D., Hamlin, M., Gaffney, K., Lambrick, D., & Matheson, A. (2016). Efficacy of exercise intervention for weight loss in overweight and obese adolescents: Meta-analysis and implications.Sports Medicine, 46(11), 1737–1751. Web.