Screen Time and Pediatric Obesity Research Paper

Pediatric obesity is a significant issue for children of different origins and genders. There are many factors, including lack of physical activity and related health issues, that make this unpleasant phenomenon exist, and screen time has a significant impact on them. The time children spend using their computers, tablets, and mobile phones can result in pediatric obesity. Thus, there are particular evidence-based strategies successfully addressing the behavior, and their findings can be used to create a work plan with specific goals and objectives.

Program Goal and Objectives

To address the behavior comprehensively, one should clearly articulate a program goal and corresponding objectives. The main program goal is to emphasize the correlation between screen time and pediatric obesity among young children, as well as to develop a useful strategy to reduce this behavior. To cope with it, one should summarize the existing evidence-based strategies and identify those that prove to be more effective than others. This goal means that it is necessary to conduct a systematic literature search and analysis. In addition to that, particular objectives, both learning and behavioral, are needed. Learning objective: In a year, underage children will be able to list the main aspects of how screen time can influence pediatric obesity. Behavior objective: Underage children will know how they should minimize by 30-50% the time they spend using their gadgets according to a particular strategy. Thus, the program goal and objectives to be achieved create a basis for the further literature search.

Evidence-Based Strategies

Since pediatric obesity and its relationship with screen time are quite essential nowadays, there are many works dedicated to this issue. Thus, Garmy, Clausson, Nyberg, and Jakobsson (2018) state that the two phenomena above are consequences of insufficient sleep. Garmy et al. (2018) explain that pediatric obesity and screen time are higher among those 10-year-old children who sleep no more than 9 hours per day (p. e3). That is why it can be enough to make children go to bed earlier to reduce the behavior. Furthermore, Tsiros, Samaras, Coates, and Olds (2017) argue that the issue of pediatric obesity should not be treated traditionally always. According to Tsiros et al. (2017), “not all physical activity and screen-based behaviors have equivocal relationships with children’s health” (p. 3119). It denotes that traditional means of introducing physical activities and minimizing screen time will not always address pediatric obesity directly and effectively. Even though these works present practical guidelines, they show that a more comprehensive approach is required.

In addition to that, there are other works that introduce effective evidence-based strategies. Firstly, JaKa et al. (2017) prove that “physical activity followed by energy intake and fruit and vegetable intake” can be a good way to address both screen time and obesity (p. 730). This change strategy tries to make obese children change their lifestyle. Secondly, Kolko et al. (2017) indicate that it is necessary to apply various approaches to change the behavior. According to Kolko et al. (2017), both interactive and Web-based training can be used for children to understand that their behavior can have dangerous consequences for their health. These strategies have been shown effective in reducing the behavior under consideration.

The last two evidence-based programs are the most effective ones to be implemented in the program because they represent a cohesive approach. On the one hand, JaKa et al. (2017) refer to a physical aspect of life, depriving the target population of much free time. As a result, the children are not left to themselves, and they have particular duties – physical exercises and healthy eating. On the other hand, Kolko et al. (2017) pay attention to an educational aspect of the issue. They show that interactive and Web-based training can make the children understand the significance of the problem. These various training and educational variations provide the target population with the necessary information on what to do to improve the situation. Thus, these strategies have been chosen because they consider the behavior from various angles.

Workplan Table

Conclusion

Screen time and pediatric obesity are significant and interrelated issues that are a topic of many scientific works. To reduce the behavior, one should develop an evidence-based strategy. The literature search and analysis show that introducing physical activities and providing the target population with training variations seem to be effective strategies because they consider the issue from different points of view. Furthermore, these strategies satisfy the program goal and meet the objectives identified.

References

1. Garmy, P., Clausson, E. K., Nyberg, P., & Jakobsson, U. (2018). Insufficient sleep is associated with obesity and excessive screen time amongst ten-year-old children in Sweden. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 39, e1-e5.
2. JaKa, M. M., French, S. A., Wolfson, J., Jeffery, R. W., Lorencatto, F., Michie, S., … Sherwood, N. (2017). Feasibility of standardized methods to specify behavioral pediatric obesity prevention interventions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 40(5), 730-739.
3. Kolko, R. P., Kass, A. E., Hayes, J. F., Levine, M. D., Garbutt, J. M., Proctor, E. K., & Wilfley, D. E. (2017). Provider training to screen and initiate evidence-based pediatric obesity treatment in routine practice settings: A randomized pilot trial. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 31(1), 16-28.
4. Tsiros, M. D., Samaras, M. G., Coates, A. M., & Olds, T. (2017). Use-of-time and health-related quality of life in 10- to 13-year-old children: Not all screen time or physical activity minutes are the same. Quality of Life Research, 26(11), 3119-3129.