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Increasing Physical Activity in Teenagers

Dana Weisbrot

Chamberlain College of Nursing

NR505: Advanced Research Methods

July 2019

Overview of the Physical Activity Program

Difference between Research and Evidence-Based Practice

Research refers to a systematic qualitative or quantitative study of situations, observations, or health trends that have substantial effects on a significant number of people in a community or populations in the society. Research involves investigation of a situation or health condition affecting specific subjects under study to find out the causes and solutions to the health problems mainly through empirical approaches using credible scientific methodologies (Ellis, 2019). On the other hand, evidence-based practice is the systematic integration of clinical expertise based on clinical observations, traditional nursing practices, best judgment, and application of the available research-based evidence in clinical settings to improve specific health concerns using credible researches (Ellis, 2019). Evidence-based practice applies research findings to provide solutions to specific health issues affecting specific populations or individuals. The difference between research and EBP is that while research uses specific traditional approaches to explain specific conditions, EBP seeks to improve the health of specific populations by applying flexible but appropriate methods that can work best for the specific populations of concern. Besides, unlike research, EBP applies previously proven effective approaches to improve patient care outcomes whereas research uses sample respondents and applies previously published findings to investigate reasons for specific health trends.

Contribution of EBP to Professional Nursing

Evidence-base practice has contributed to an improvement of nurses’ competencies through providing a framework to improve the quality of healthcare services and treatment approaches to specific health disorders. Research has proved that EBP increases nurses’ problem-solving skills by enabling them to incorporate problem-solving approaches drawn from accurate researches, which in turn increases the integrity of the professional nursing practice (Black, Balneaves, Garossino, Puyat & Qian, 2015). The adolescence fitness program’s specialty track relates to public health. The main focus of the program is to improve the health of the future adult populations through initiating physical fitness programs for adolescence in the present time. By encouraging adolescents to engage in physical fitness programs, it is possible to reduce the number of adults suffering from overweight and obesity, and related health disorders such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases in the future. In turn, there will be a corresponding reduction in mortality rates related to such diseases (Ellis, 2019). In my future practice settings, EBP promotes change through an improvement of approaches used to increase the quality of patient care. Through EBP, I will be able to apply credible research findings on the approaches that can be used to provide interventions to specific diseases, and integrate such researches with appropriate measures tailored to fit patient needs using available resources to improve population health. I will also apply EBP to select the best interventions that will be aligned to clinical best practices and professional ethics to avoid ethical issues when delivering care.

Overweight and obesity in Teenagers

Background

Overweight and obesity refer to conditions in which the body weight and size is bigger than the size considered normal for certain height and age. Both overweight and obese people mainly have excess body fat that is considered unhealthy. Although overweight can occasionally be due to excess muscle and bone tissues, the contemporary regard of overweight such as the dimension of this program is that which results from an accumulation of access fats in the body. To determine if a person is overweight and obesity, the body mass index (BMI) is used in which weight is computed with relation to height. A normal person’s BMI is 18.5-25.9; an overweight parson has a BMI of 25-29.9; an obese person’s BMI is 30-39; and an extremely obese individual has a BMI of 40 or more (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, 2019). Another method that can be used to determine overweight status is the waistline so that females and males with waistline circumference of 35 and 40 inches or more respectively can be regarded as overweight (NIDDKD, 2019). Overweight and obesity are caused by accumulation of access fats in the body mainly due to lack of enough physical activities that do not correspond to fats and carbohydrates intake.

Frequency of Overweight and diabetes Occurrence

Obesity is less prevalent among teenagers than adults in the US. Nevertheless, the number of teenagers with obesity is still high. Among all teenagers aged below 19 years, 18.5% were obese in 2015 and 2016 (Hales, Carroll, Fryar & Ogden, 2017). The occurrence of obesity is: 20.6% among teenagers between 12 to 19 years; and 18.4% among 6-11 year-olds (Hales et al., 2017). Furthermore, obesity prevalence among school-aged teenage boys is 20.4% whereas the occurrence among teenage girls is 20.9% (Hales et al., 2017). The overall prevalence of obesity with regard to race among teenagers below 19 years in 2015-2016 was; 22% for non-Hispanic Blacks; 25% for Hispanics; 14.1% for non-Hispanic Whites; and 11% for non-Hispanic Asians (Hales et al., 2017). With regard to gender, the prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic Black teenage girls is 25.1%; 23.6% for non-Hispanic black girls; 23.6% for Hispanic girls; 13.5% for non-Hispanic White girls; and 10.1% for non-Hispanic Asian teenage girls (Hales et al., 2017). On the other side, obesity prevalence among teenage boys according to (Hales et al., 2017) was the same as that of the overall rates among all youth save for Hispanic boys with 28%; and non-Hispanic Blacks with 19%.

Affected Stakeholders

The main stakeholders that teenage obesity and overweight disorder affects are the teenagers themselves. Other stakeholders are their parents and guardians who have to take care of the obese and overweight teenagers. Further afield, academic institutions in which obese and overweight students study are also affected since the obese students can develop sudden health emergencies that can call for immediate action. Stakeholders in the economic, sports, and health sectors are also affected significantly when teenagers suffer from obesity since their productivity and involvement in sports is deterred due to the condition that severely immobilizes them. Obese teenagers cannot be able to competently participate in sports irrespective of how talented they may be, which reduces their potential as sportspeople thereby reducing the quantity and quality of talent in the sports.

Consequences of Obesity among Teenagers

The consequences of obesity and overweight in teenagers range from psychological to physiological health disorders. The main psychological disorders that impact on obese teenagers is stress and depression related to social effects in which friends and other people may view obese teenagers as undesirable friends or careless and irresponsible. Physiological consequences relate to other complications that develop as a result of the obese condition. Such conditions include type 2 diabetes characterized by high blood sugar level. According to NIDDK (2019), 8 out of 10 people with diabetes are obese or overweight. Another complication is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis, which are known to cause fatal liver damage and cirrhosis (NIDDK, 2019). Further, overweight and obesity are predisposing factors to osteoarthritis characterized by painful swellings in the joints; metabolic syndromes such as high triglyceride and low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL); and gall bladder disease (NIDDK, 2019). Other complications include: hypertension, which raises the likelihood of kidney disease, stroke, heart attack, and even death.

Physical Exercise as a Solution to Overweight and Obesity

The main intervention that will be used is physical activity and sport. Two settings will be applied to implement the intervention. They include school and the community. Research has proved that school-based physical activity programs such as sports in which students work together is effective in reducing overweight and obesity in teenagers (Langford, Bonell, Jones & Campbell, 2015). The spirit of brotherhood and in school sufficiently motivates teenagers to actively participate in physical activities. The community settings require social and economic input of community stakeholders such as parents, political and religious leaders, and local health officers in implementing the physical exercise program. The elements of the community-based physical activity program will involve active leisure activities such as sports and swimming, and establishment of physical activity routines such as jogging and gymnastics after (van der Kleij, Crone, Reis & Paulussen, 2016). Education programs and establishment of fitness facilities will be incorporated to support the program in both settings.

Purpose Statement

The aim of the teenage obesity and overweight reduction and prevention program through physical activities is to improve the health of adolescents in the US through school and community settings to improve teenagers’ productivity, quality of life, and long lifespan.

PICOT and Literature Search Process

PICOT Question for Quantitative Research

Can overweight and obesity among teenagers be prevented or managed successfully through physical activity programs after six months than no intervention at all?

PICOT Question for Qualitative Research

Can overweight and obesity among teenagers be prevented or managed successfully through physical activity programs after six months?

Literature Search Process

The expected outcomes from the physical exercise intervention program is an improvement in mobility of obese and overweight teenagers, increased life expectancy, reduction in related health complications such as diabetes, and increased quality of life. In my future professional settings, these outcomes will be useful in implementing programs related to teenage obesity issues, and using statistical data from the program to determine likelihood of success of different interventions. The purpose of conducting a literature review is to seek scholarly opinions on a specific topic of concern, both positive and negative in order to determine the likelihood of success of a program to be undertaken, and to show how the program is aligned to previous studies (Quang, Rogers, Hofman & Lanham, 2019). The literature review will positively contribute to the program’s development since most relevant information, both positive and challenges that will shape the final proposal will be obtained from existing literature. The steps that will be used to conduct the literature review will be to determine the topic, which is physical fitness program for teenagers. These terms will be searched in scholarly databases such as Google Scholar, ABSCO host, Proquest, and credible websites. The key search terms used include: obesity in teenagers, physical fitness programs for obese adolescents. Additional phrases to be used are effects of obesity, and occurrence rates of obesity. One specialty organization relevant to this RBP is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework that will be applied for this program is the achievement motivation theory. According to this theory, social cycles, goal-directed actions, and learning principles increase motivation (Gwyther et al., 2019). This theoretical framework is applied by incorporating friends and families of obese adolescents to give support and motivation to the obese teenagers to participate in fitness exercises and to have a positive view of the program. There obese teenagers in a particular location for the pilot program will be taken through training schedules and be educated on the importance of physical fitness and the health risks of obesity. They will then be expected to make personal declaration that will express their commitment to adhere to the program.

References

Black, A. T., Balneaves, L. G., Garossino, C., Puyat, J. H., & Qian, H. (2015). Promoting evidence-based practice through a research training program for point-of-care clinicians. The Journal of nursing administration, 45(1), 14-20.

Ellis, P. (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing (4th ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Gwyther, K., Swann, R., Casey, K., Purcell, R., & Rice, S. M. (2019). Developing young men’s wellbeing through community and school-based programs: A systematic review. PloS one, 14(5), 1-21.

Hales, C. M., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2017). Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015–2016. NCHS. 1-8.

Langford, R., Bonell, C., Jones, H., & Campbell, R. (2015). Obesity prevention and the health promoting schools framework: essential components and barriers to success. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 12, 1. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=101992035&site=eds- live

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. (2019). Im I at a healthy weight? US Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight- obesity/am-i-healthy-weight#bmi

Quang, M. N., Rogers, T., Hofman, J., & Lanham, A. B. (2019). New framework for automated article selection applied to a literature review of Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal. PLoS ONE, (5). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsgov&AN=edsgcl.584928632&site=eds-live

Van der Kleij, M. R., Crone, M., Reis, R., & Paulussen, T. (2016). Unravelling the factors decisive to the implementation of EPODE-derived community approaches targeting childhood obesity: a longitudinal, multiple case study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 13, 1. http:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=117976591&site=eds-live

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN TEENAGERS

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