Childhood obesity
Childhood obesity poses a major public health threat to children in the United States. The rate of childhood obesity in the country has increased significantly in the past few decades. Although at different rates, children across different demographic groups in America struggle with weight issues which poses physical and psychological effects on them (Pulgaron, 2013; Sahoo et al., 2015). Therefore, it is important to develop an intervention to help in the reduction of this public health problem to protect children from its effects. This PICOT statement proposed an evidence-based solution that includes making sure that children have access to better diets. The following is an evaluation of the components of the PICOT statements and how they contribute to solving this issue.
PICOT Statement
Children with a BMI above 30 who are undergoing nutritional monitoring compared to not being monitored nutritionally can achieve significant weight loss in a period of a year.
P- Children with a BMI above 30
I-Undergoing nutritional monitoring
C- Compared to not being nutritionally monitored
O- Can achieve reduced weight
T- in a period of a year
Population
The population of focus for this intervention is the children in the United States with a BMI above 30 (Ogden et al., 2012). A BMI above 30 indicates that the children are suffering from obesity. The focus for the intervention will be children between 6 and 15 years because they are around the age groups with the highest risk of obesity in the country. Additionally, children within this age group tend to have the highest risk of engaging in unhealthy eating habits, especially when not being monitored (Ayer et al., 2013). Children below this age group are mainly under the care of their parents; hence, parents can easily control what they eat. On the other hand, the older children can understand obesity and be educated on ways they can change their eating habits; thus, there is no need to monitor them.
Intervention
The intervention is monitoring what the children eat. Each of the children in the selected age group needs to have an adult with an understanding of nutrition and its relationship with overweight and obesity issues. The adult with then develop the children’s meal plans, making sure that the foods they take in a day include those that will assist with weight loss but not suppress the required nutrients for a healthy lifestyle. The foods that have been determined to be high contributing factors to obesity include those with higher levels of sugar and excess fat. Many foods that fall into the category of ‘junk foods’ tend to contain these components. Therefore, these are the main foods that will be controlled in this intervention.
Comparison
The comparison to the intervention is failing to monitor the diets of the children. This implies that the children will be allowed to eat whatever they want regardless of the nutrition components of the food. Children tend to like the ‘junk foods’, which is part of the main reasons for the high rates of childhood obesity (Sabin & Kiess, 2015). Not monitoring the children and what they eat will mean that there will be a higher chance of maintaining or worsening their obesity.
Outcome
The expected outcome of this intervention is a significant reduction in the population’s weight. Two of the controllable contributing factors to childhood obesity are diet and physical activity. This intervention focuses on poor diet, which has been proven to lead to accumulation of excess fat leading to obesity in children (Roberto et al., 2015). Excess sugars and fat are some of the main causes of weight-related issues in children. Therefore, if these foods are controlled, it is expected that the children will experience a significant reduction of fat in their bodies. It is expected that after the intervention, the participating children will have a reduced body weight.
Time
Weight loss is a gradual process that occurs through consistency in the application of the intervention aiming at causing the weight loss. A period of one year has been assigned to this intervention program to ensure that the children are given enough time for their bodies to adapt to their new diets and for them to experience significant weight loss that can be recorded because of the intervention. The weights of the children will be measured at the beginning of the program and at the end of the intervention program to determine the significant change that has taken place after a year of monitoring the diets of the children and making sure that they only eat the right foods.
References
Ayer, J., Charakida, M., Deanfield, J. E., & Celermajer, D. S. (2015). Lifetime risk: childhood obesity and cardiovascular risk. European heart journal, 36(22), 1371-1376.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Jama, 307(5), 483-490.
Pulgaron, E. R. (2013). Childhood obesity: a review of increased risk for physical and psychological comorbidities. Clinical Therapeutics, 35(1), A18-A32.
