Childhood Obesity - Paper Example

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Overview and Definitions

Childhood obesity is considered as a health condition where excess body fats alter the normal health of a child. When fat in the body tissue increases to the extent where the adipose tissues replace some of the muscle and connective tissues, then the chances a child developing obesity is high. At this level, the physical activity of the kid decreases, which could attract other pulmonary or cardiovascular complications. The process of determining whether a child is obese is not easy, as several factors must be incorporated to ensure efficient diagnostic process. However, the use of Body Mass Index (BMI) has been adopted widely as a universal metric approach to categorizing the level of obesity. The recent concerns over the increasing number of childhood obesity have contributed to the classification of the condition as a public health challenge in states such as Canada and the United States (Childhood Obesity Foundation, 2015).

On the other hand, overweight is a term used interchangeably with obesity to avoid stigmatization of the victims. Excess or abnormal body fats can either be described as overweight or obese where the two words are regarded as synonyms. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the two terms as different conditions associated with increased body fats beyond the normal levels with the value of the BMI bringing the difference (WHO, 2016). For adults, overweight is represented with a BMI value of 25 or greater while obesity is considered as a condition when the BMI is greater or equal to 30. For children, the WHO defines overweight and obesity for kids under the age of 5 years as weight-for-height greater than 2 and above 3 for standard deviations based on WHO median respectively. For children between 5 and 19 years of age then overweight and obesity is regarded as BMI-for-age greater than 1 and greater 2 for standard deviations according to the WHO median respectively. Therefore, based on these classifications, obesity is considered overweight, but the reverse is not necessarily true unless the obese BMI value is exceeded (WHO, 2016). Moreover, the measurement of BMI can be described inform of the percentile where the 85th percentile and above is considered an overweight while 95th percentile as an obese case.

2.2 Scholarly Review

Several scholarly evaluations have been carried to assess the implication, causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of obesity among children. According to Seth and Sharma (2012), Childhood obesity is a critical condition across the globe attracting both social and medical attention. The assessment of the literature and medical data indicated how the disease had affected most families at the highest level of socioeconomic status in India. Seth and Sharma (2012) points out that the adoption of the western lifestyle has impacted most families negatively in the country, which contributes to high rates of calorie intake and limited physical activity. The study describes how the condition among kids attracts insulin resistance among other secondary health complications that limit the extent to which intervention measure can guarantee full recovery. The study recommended that the use of lifestyle modification for children and adolescents encourage positive eating and physical activity behaviors.

Johnston, Hernandez, and Shuaib (2016) carried out a systematic review of the population levels and trends of development in childhood obesity. The evaluation of the secondary literature indicated that the establishment of criteria for identifying a child who is at risk of obesity is a critical move of reducing the effects of the condition on a childs life as well as identifying the causes. The scholars pointed out that child obesity is associated with physiological and psychological implications that can alter the life of a child. In such a case, the assessment concluded that the interventions could be population-wide at primary level where the community is considered as the main domain. Moreover, the study pointed that secondary mitigation measures such as the targeting of the diagnosed children can encourage lifestyle modification. Furthermore, Johnston, Hernandez, and Shuaib (2016) showed that tertiary interventions, for example, the use of medication, should not be neglected.

3.0 Proposed Methodology

3.1 Research Methodology

The research will examine several variables associated with the income of parent in line with childhood obesity. Since the topic of the study includes a social issue, it will be necessary to provide a multidimensional analysis of the data that will be collected. Therefore, the proposed study will be based on a mixed methodology, which will include both a qualitative and quantitative analysis. The quantitative analysis will include the assessment of the correlation between childhood obesity and income of parents for samples obtained from public and private schools. In this case, the value of the correlation coefficient will inform the strength of the relationship. The use of the quantitative analysis will assist in determining the nature of the other statistical variables such as the mean, standard deviation, and variance, which will help in explaining the impact of different levels of the income on the lifestyle of children. On the other hand, the inclusion of a qualitative analysis will ensure that the views, perceptions and theoretical frameworks have been included to establish a broad conclusion to inform stakeh...