36462 - 4- Pages within 24Hrs

A summary of your area of interest, an identification of the problem that you have selected, and an explanation of the significance of this problem for nursing practice

Obesity has remained to be a big issue not only among the elderly but also among the children. Obesity among children poses a greater danger to children than adults due to its impacts on the future of any nation. I have developed a key interest in obesity due to its ever-increasing rates over the years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2018), obesity prevalence among children between ages 2 and 19 stands at 18.5%. Approximately 13.7 million children and adolescents have been affected by obese conditions. With more analysis carried out, CDC found that teenagers between ages 12 and 19 are mostly affected, closely followed by children between ages 6 and 11, and finally the least percentage of impact were children between ages 2 and 5. CDC also found that there are certain populations regarding race that are more affected than others. Obesity conditions were, for instance, found to be higher among Hispanics than Non-Hispanics. Children are thus at risk of becoming obese, and this could lead to the development of other problems such as cardiovascular issues, high blood pressure, gout, breathing problems, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and some cancers among other health conditions.

Obesity among children is of crucial significance to nursing practice due to various reasons. First, it is important to note that the nurses’ role is usually to take care of patients in a hospital or a home setting. As described above, obesity as a condition could prompt the development of other health problems that could result in children becoming disabled at a very young age. Rising cases of obesity among children increase the risk of those children to be disabled or have comorbid health issues hence require medical attention. Obesity among children is also important in nursing practice as nurses could play a critical role in reducing and mitigating the condition. Obesity is not only an individual problem but also a communal issue. It may be difficult for an individual to fight the risk factors all alone without having help from the community. For example, the existence of fast food restaurants has contributed to the increasing cases of obesity, especially among teenagers. Nurses could play an important role in health promotion by carrying campaigns aimed at encouraging children to eat healthy foods and do less of the fast foods. Other than using preventive strategies, nurses could embrace protective strategies by advocating through the law, which should aim at banning the use of trans-fat in fast food restaurants. The use of law with evidence on the impacts of obesity could be used by the nurses in expressing their ideas to policymakers. Obesity among children is thus of key significance to nursing practice as it is always the role of the nurses to take care of the children when they develop complications from the obesity; the nurses could also influence preventive and protective strategies in reducing cases of obesity among children.

Five questions generated and how you analyzed them for feasibility

While looking at the research issue, the following five questions were considered:

· What is the current status of obesity among children?

· Are there differences in obesity trends regarding the age of children?

· How could nurses contribute to the reduction of obesity cases?

· What are the possible approaches that could be used in minimizing the increasing cases of obesity among children?

· What possible measures could be used to measure the effectiveness of the identified approaches to minimize cases of obesity?

Feasibility refers to the state of being conveniently implemented or done. The above questions qualify to be answered by conducting the research. Each of these questions is specific and address one certain item. Secondly, each of the questions is measurable and could be quantified using various measures; this is because each of the questions allows the collection of data and can be quantified at the end with the right results. Lastly, the feasibility of the questions was also analyzed through their contribution to gaining knowledge concerning how to minimize or end obesity cases among children. Each of the questions contains specific answers that contribute to addressing the problem of obesity among children in the United States of America.

Preliminary PICOT question and a description of each PICOT variable

The PICOT question the research will address takes the form of an intervention as it seeks to find the best approach towards reducing the cases of obesity among children. The following question is the preliminary PICOT question for this research:

“In addressing obesity among children (P), how do protective strategies (I) compared to preventive strategies (C) affect the reduction of obesity cases (O) within a six-month (T) period?”

Population/Patient (P)

The population in question are children between the age of 5 and 17. The research would focus on children from age five as they already know who they are and can reason a bit without absolutely being dependent on their parents. The study eliminates children under age 5 as it assumes they may be too young to at least reason on their own; children under age five are also mostly under the care of their parent. Age 17 was also considered as the maximum limit as the research would assume anybody 18 years and above is considered as an adult. Children in two states will be considered to provide a better view of intervention and comparison.

Intervention

The intervention considered is a prognostic factor that will be used as the best intervention to fight cases of obesity among the children. From the above preliminary question, protective strategies are the interventions considered. This involves the development of laws and regulations that would ban the production of fast foods, which are regarded as one of the major causes of obesity.

Comparison

The comparison used for this case will be preventive strategies; such strategies will include involving children in exercise as a way of reducing their chances of becoming obese.

Outcome

The expected outcome is the reduction of rising cases of obesity. The study is determined to come up with a strategy that will reduce cases of obesity from occurring among the children. Under this section, both the intervention and the comparison will be analyzed to determine which approach was the most successful in reducing obesity adequately.

Time

Sufficient time must be provided to ensure changes are observed and assessed. Weight loss will be the main factor under consideration in this research. The participants will have their weight monitored for a period of six months to establish a conclusion.

Ten possible keywords that could be used in conducting a literature search for the PICOT question

The following keywords could be used during the process of literature search: obesity, fast foods, nutrition, diet, exercise, dietary habits, weight loss, weight gain, preventive obesity techniques, and protective obesity approaches.

Reference

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Overweight and Obesity- Childhood Obesity Facts. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html#Prevalence

Access to Health Services | Healthy People 2020. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/Access-to-Health-Services

Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC. (n.d.).

Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Obese parents increase kids' risk of being overweight. (2004, July 21).

Retrieved from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2004/july21/med-obesity-721.html

WHO | physical activity and young people. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_young_people/en/