Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity Guideline Coursework

Introduction

Obesity is considered to be one of the most frequent problems of the modern world. The major point is that not only grown ups suffer from this disease; children face the same problem because of the same reasons. In many sources, obesity is described as “the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue to the extent that health may be impaired.” (Kiess et al., 2004, p.1). There are lots of educative sources, which provide people with an opportunity to learn more about obesity, its causes, and the steps, any person should take in order to live health live and help the other to follow the same example. Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity is one of the guidelines, created by more than 10 people from different spheres, who are involved into the solving of this problem, and has to be analyzed in order to clear up the level of its effectiveness, its objectives, and evidence for usage in practice.

Discussion

General Evaluation of Practice Guideline

The practice recommendations, offered in the Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity, contain rather important information that helps to identify the duties of nurses and underline the rules, people have to follow in order to protect themselves against obesity. “The majority of the U. S. population is ‘at risk’. Almost two thirds of the current adult population is overweight or obese. Treatment for such a large portion of the population is untenable.” (Woodward-Lopez, 2006, p. 2). This is why it is necessary to think about possible ways to prevent obesity and provide people with a chance to save their future and the future of their children. With the help of these guidelines, nurses find out the points, which are crucially important to learn and analyze. There are several levels of evidence, which characterize each practical recommendation, and promote clear comprehension of why this or that practice is reliable or not. This is why the quality of this guideline is rather high and turns out to be helpful for both ordinary people and medical professionals.

The Authors of the Guideline and Their Contribution

The composition of people, who created this guideline, is rather solid: Paula Roberson, the team leader, Donna Ciliska, a professor at School of Nursing, Karen Hourtovenko, a nurse practitioner at Riverside Cardiac Clinic, and many others. Mary Lou Albanese, the program manager, is responsible for ideas of chronic disease prevention and Veronica Fodor help to specify the obesity problems, any family may face with. These people choose quite an effective development of the guideline. First, they point out the intended users of this guideline – they are nurses; second, they clear up the goals – “to provide direction for nurses who work with children and families across diverse practice settings and at population, family, and/or individual levels.” (Robeson et al., 2005) It is rather clever to provide a list of practice recommendations and point out the level of evidence. However, to my mind, it is a bit inconvenient to check what this or that level means, as the explanation of each level is appeared to be at the end of the list. Maybe, it would be better to present the description of the levels before the list of recommendations. But still, the work is already prepared, and we have nothing to do but analyze this information as it is.

The Quality of Research

Lots of scientists underline the fact that “obesity is not a disease. It is an unhealthy condition.” (Glaser & Hubbard, 2006, p.4). According to this fact, it is possible to say that obesity cannot be treated, this is why people have to think about the possible ways to prevent such uncomfortable for them conditions. This simple guideline helps to evaluate the changes, which may happen to children and prove them the importance of healthy eating and the urgency of physical activity. “Although the use of television grew more slowly, use of other electronic devices, particularly computers, and more recently the Internet, has grown even faster.” (Davies et al., 2007, p. 49). This is why it is crucially important to evaluate the reasons of why children are so fond of computers and video games and find out the way to return them to health style of life, physical exercises, and real life communication. Nurses should “promote a decrease in sedentary activities with emphasis on reducing the amount of time clients spend watching TV, playing video games, and engaging in recreational computer use.” (Robeson et al., 2005).

Conclusions

Without any doubts, obesity disturbs many people, both children and grown ups; this why they should be ready to take the necessary measures and prevent themselves from obesity and other unpleasant consequences. Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity is a good source of information that will help nurses choose the right way and be able to help other people enjoy this life and do not be bothered with obesity problems. Nurses are one the firsts, who can and should care about people’s condition. Theoretical background is not the only thing to rely on. Practice is much more effective, and the results will be certainly noticed. Practical recommendations offered by Robeson and other members of the group are the things, which any nurse should start with.

Reference List

1. Davies, H. D., Fitzgerald, H. E., & Mousouli, V. (2007). Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence. Greenwood Publishing Group.
2. Glaser, J. and Hubbard, J. R. (2006). Obesity. Capstone Press.
3. Kiess, W., Marcus, C., and Wabitsch, M. (2004). Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence. Karger Publishers.
4. Robeson, P., Albanese, M. L., Ciliska, D., Fodor, V., Frank, M., Goodine, W., Helden, L., Hourtovenko, K., Gracon, S. (2005). Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity. National Guideline Clearinghouse.
5. Woodward-Lopez, G., Ritchie, L. D., Gerstein, D. E., Crawford, P. B. (2006). Obesity: Dietary and Developmental Influences. CRC Press.