Case Study Assignment: Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children

For this Discussion, you will consider examples of children with various weight issues. You will explore how you could effectively gather information and encourage parents and caregivers to be proactive about their children’s health and weight.

To prepare:

· Consider the following examples of pediatric patients and their families:

· Overweight 5-year-old boy with overweight parents

· Slightly overweight 10-year-old girl with parents of normal weight

· 5-year-old girl of normal weight with obese parents

· Slightly underweight 8-year-old boy with parents of normal weight

· Severely underweight 12-year-old girl with underweight parents

· Select one of the examples on which to focus for this Discussion. What health issues and risks may be relevant to the child you selected?

· Based on the risks you identified, consider what further information you would need to gain a full understanding of the child’s health. Think about how you could gather this information in a sensitive fashion.

· Consider how you could encourage parents or caregivers to be proactive toward the child’s health.

By Day 3

Post an explanation of the health issues and risks that are relevant to the child you selected. Describe additional information you would need in order to further assess his or her weight-related health. Taking into account the parents’ and caregivers’ potential sensitivities, list at least three specific questions you would ask about the child to gather more information. Provide at least two strategies you could employ to encourage the parents or caregivers to be proactive about their child’s health and weight.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

Main post week 3

Overweight 5-year-old boy with overweight parents

Being overweight means having excess bodyweight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors (Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015).

Health Issues and Risks of being over weight

Overweight increases the health risks for children and teens. Increasing number of American children are developing type 2 diabetes, which was once rare. Also, overweight children are more likely to become overweight or obese as adults, with the same disease risks (NHLBI, NIH, 2012). Overweight is associated with increased for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostrate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (Kushi, et al.,2006).

Additional information to further assess his weight-related health

Since the child and parents are overweight as well, it is necessary to assess the family for causes such as behavior and genetics. They need to be assessed for dietary patterns, physical activity, inactivity, medication use, and other exposures. I would also assess additional factors in the society such as food and physical environment, education and skills, and food marketing and promotion (Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015).

Three specific questions about the child to gather more information.

1. Does your child go out and play with his friends or does any activity such as swimming or biking?

2. Does he love sweet food products such as donuts and cupcakes?

3. What does your usual daily food intake as a family looks like?

Two strategies to encourage the parents to be proactive about their child’s health and weight

I will suggest the parents to follow healthy lifestyle habits including healthy eating and physical activity. This can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases (The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010, 2010).

I will recommend them to use the Dietary Guidelines for American as a guide for a healthy diet pattern. These guidelines emphasize on eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, low-fat dairy products and drinking water. I will also recommend them to follow the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans which recommends children to do at least 60 minutes of physical activity everyday (Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015).

Thus, in order to have a healthy weight for the child, in this case the whole family should be taken into account and be encouraged to make an effort towards a healthy goal.

References

Childhood Obesity Facts. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

Kushi, L. H., Byers, T., Doyle, C., Bandera, E. V., Mccullough, M., Gansler, T., . . . Thun, M. J. (2006).

American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention: Reducing the Risk of Cancer With Healthy Food Choices and Physical Activity. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 56(5), 254-281. doi:10.3322/canjclin.56.5.254

The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010. (2010). PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e511782010-001

What Are the Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity? - NHLBI, NIH. (2012). Retrieved from

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/risks

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on 2 different days who selected a different example than you, using one or more of the following approaches:

· Suggest additional health risks or issues that could be relevant to the child.

· Critique your colleagues’ questions, and suggest how the parents or caregivers might interpret these questions. Provide alternate or additional questions.

· Suggest an additional strategy for gathering patient information or promoting proactivity.

·

There was a study done to find more about the differences in parental feeding practices based on their ethnicity/ race, household income, parent education level, acculturation and participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Eligible parents were asked to complete Preschooler Feeding Questionairre (PFQ). PFQ included five subscales: child over eating concerns, child underweight concerns, difficulty with picky eating, using food to calm, and pushing child to eat. It was interesting to find that the Spanish speaking parents were significantly more worried about their child being underweight than English speaking participants. High income non-WIC parents were more likely have a picky eater than WIC parents. Also Spanish speaking parents and Black parents were more likely to use food to calm their child. Thus, it only tells the practitioner that he/ she needs to be aware of the differences in parental feeding practices and concerns among parent of different ethnicity and culture. Also the results from this study could be used to tailor the health programs that promote healthy feeding practices among parents( Evans, et.al., 2011).

Reference

Evans, A., Seth, J., Smith, S., Harris, K., Loyo, J., Spaulding, C., & ... Gottlieb, N. (2011). Parental Feeding Practices and Concerns Related to Child Underweight, Picky Eating, and Using Food to Calm Differ According to Ethnicity/Race, Acculturation, and Income. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 15(7), 899-909. doi:10.1007/s10995-009-0526-6

To gather information and evaluate the health of the preteen, one can use anthropometry. It is a non-invasive, inexpensive method used to assess the size, proportions, and composition of the human body. The World Health Organization has also recommended to use the growth charts to monitor physical growth. If the anthropometric parameters are below 3rd percentile then it is indicative of insufficient growth and nutrition (Gaur & Nayak, 2011).

Given the fact that the girl is severely underweight and that her parents are underweight as well, it is important to also assess the other factors like maternal educational levels, socio-economic status and family size need to be addressed as well. The girl should also be assessed for dental caries. Having dental caries can affect the physical, mental, and overall systemic health. It also increases her chances of having iron deficiency anemia and in some cases it can also lead to failure to thrive without any particular reason (Gaur & Nayak, 2011).

Reference

Gaur, S., & Nayak, R. (2011). Underweight in low socioeconomic status preschool children with severe early childhood caries. Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, 29(4), 305. Retrieved from http://auth.waldenulibrary.org/ezpws.exe?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=minn4020&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA270674561&asid=c67b35eec3ba700b9f057ec8556d0650