Reducing Childhood Obesity in the USA

Introduction

Obesity among teenagers and younger children has exacerbated epidemic proportions in America, adversely impacting millions of lives. In the last thirty years, childhood obesity rates have increased threefold among teenagers and more than twofold among younger children (Hales et al., 2017). CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) discoveries stem from one of the gold-standard health surveys, measuring participants weight and height. The most recent surveys date back to 2017-18, with over 2,800 child participants (Hales et al., 2020). Survey results displayed that 19.3 percent of children between 2 and 19 years of age were obese, a somewhat higher percentage than the 2015-16 figure (18.5 percent). This growth may not be regarded as statistically significant; in other words, mathematically, the rates may not have risen. However, the figures display a rising trend since 2005-06, when obesity was reported among 15.4 percent of American children (Stobbe, 2020). CDC findings reveal that extremely obese children have consistently, and for many years, made up six percent of the American child population.

Various factors play a role in childhood obesity, such as consuming large quantities of sugared drinks and processed foods and physical inactivity (Sanyaolu et al., 2019). The latter factor is the present coronavirus crisis that has shut down schools and forced people to stay home.

Statement of the problem

Obesity probably impacts every area of teenage/child life, including though not restricted to their general physical, cardiovascular, and mental health (Dehghan, Akhtar-Danesh & Merchant, 2005).The relationship between morbidities and obesity has rendered it an element of public health concern for teenagers and younger children.Obesity seriously and adversely affects physical as well as mental health. As a result, it has been linked to numerous comorbidity conditions like hypertension, acute depression, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, and a loss of self-esteem (Kelly et al., 2018).Furthermore, obesity among children that continues even into adult life increases the likelihood of contraction of digestive and cardiovascular illnesses.Lastly, increased body fat exposes them to greater risks of several cancer forms, including colon, kidney, esophageal, pancreatic, and breast cancers.

Purpose of the study

Considering the risks to health presented by childhood obesity, this research will ascertain the best available approach to reduce obesity among American children. Multiple strategies, interventions, and programs are being utilized by different stakeholders (parents/guardians, educational institutions, etc.) to decrease childhood obesity (Sanyaolu et al., 2019). But research reveals that to achieve an impact that is significant enough to constitute success, the interventions implemented ought to be multifaceted, involving all relevant stakeholders. Thus, this study will identify the key elements of a program targeted at decreasing childhood obesity and the main stakeholders involved in guaranteeing that the program succeeds. The studys literature review will cover obesity in educational institutions, obesity interventions, and health education and awareness in educational institutions for gaining insights into the linkage between the above three elements. The literature review process, revolving around children between 5 and 18 years of age, will be performed in the spring of 2021.

Study significance

This study is significant because it will review research works in childhood/teenage obesity, thereby functioning as an aggregative review of the most recent findings on this subject. Research findings will prove to be an invaluable resource for parents, and social and educational institutions that deal with teenagers or younger children, providing an evidence-grounded background on the different aspects of a successful obesity reduction initiative focused on children. Furthermore, the study will define all relevant stakeholders who ought to participate to guarantee initiative success actively.

Research questions

1. What constitutes the ideal intervention to reduce childhood obesity?

2. What constitutes a successful childhood obesity decrease program?

3. Which key stakeholders...

Synthesis

Diverse studies findings will be synthesized using narrative synthesis, which is deemed the ideal synthesis tool due to the wide array of highly diverse research covered within the systematic review. An initial synthesis will first be undertaken as a thematic study that entails searching, listing, and presenting research works in a table. Subsequently, outcomes will be re-discussed and organized into themes. Finally, the researcher will summarize included research works in narrative synthesis in the framework described below.

The framework, as mentioned earlier, will constitute the following components: individuals targeted or participating in the research and its environment (i.e., children, the school setting); initiative components (e.g., physical activity and diet); initiative implementation (in-school or outside of school); compliance; and initiative duration. The above components will be addressed relative to their likely impacts on obesity reducton efforts. All included articles will be previously published ones.

Budget

The studys financial costs will be very low owing to the methodology used (i.e., systematic review). Therefore, it will be funded out of primary researchers pocket.

Timeline

Activity

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Proposal writing

Literature review

Data Synthesis

Report writing

Oral presentation

Finalizing

Review

Conclusion

Due to the high health concerns of childhood obesity, the proposed study will determine the most efficient approach to decrease childhood obesity. To this end, it will conduct a systematic review of different obesity interventions to identify the best one for decreasing childhood obesity. The study will attempt to ascertain what makes a child-focused obesity reduction initiative successful and the key stakeholders. Owing to the methodology adopted (i.e., literature review), very low financial costs will be associated with this proposed research, which primary researchers out of pocket can easily fund. Research, estimated to take around 9 weeks, will be performed in spring 2021.

References

Ammerman,…