Literature Review for Obesity

Literature Review
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Literature Review
Obesity among children remains a significant challenge that needs immediate attention. Without proper interventions, more children will be overweight and obese in the future. Such children will be vulnerable to illnesses associated with obesity. Parents are crucial in dealing with the issue since they are the primary caregivers. It is essential to examine the role parents can play in ensuring that their children engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. The problem requires extensive research to establish what should be done to address it. As a result, academic articles are needed in the research process. This literature review analyzes five articles examining obesity and parent relationship by addressing the PICOT question: Are children (P) born to obese parents without family-based physical activity (PA) programs (I) at increased risks for obese condition (O) compared with those born with the normal condition (C) aged below 18 years) (T)?
In the first study, Brown et al. (2018) conduct a systematic review to investigate the effectiveness of school-based interventions that major on dietary intake and physical activity to address child obesity. Randomized and nonrandomized interventions between 2007 and 2016 involving dietary and physical activity were searched in multiple databases. The search was limited to peer-reviewed journal articles in PubMed, Health Source, MEDLINE, PsycBOOKS, Psychology, and Behavioural Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, and SPORTDiscus. The search terms used included “child overweight,” “child obesity,” “physical activity,” “nutrition,” “health education,” “body mass index (BMI),” “BMI -score,” “BMI-SDS,” and “school intervention.” The search produced 8,866 titles, where 78 of them considered relevant. Fifteen studies met all the inclusion criteria and were selected. The investigators ensured study quality by ensuring the validity and quality of all the individual articles. They employed Downs and Black’s tool for determining the methodological quality of the articles. The tool had 27 items scored one or zero, with a higher score demonstrating more quality. Studies that scored more than 50% of the items were considered high quality and included. The results indicated that school-based interventions with healthy eating (HE) and PA effectively improve BMI among elementary school children. Similarly, HE and PA can reduce instances of overweight and BMI (Brown et al., 2018). The analysis further noted that teachers play a critical role in learners’ social environment. Instructors can positively influence the behaviors of the learners through teacher-initiated interventions. Teachers remain vital to the sustainability of the interventions that have a long-term impact (Brown et al., 2018). The influence of parents in the intervention effectiveness remained unclear due to the different levels of parental involvement in the studies used. The study suffered from apparent drawbacks. Firstly, using a single reviewer and BMI as an obesity marker led to methodological limitations (Brown et al., 2018). Having one reviewer limited the conclusions that could be made, hence applying the results to a larger population. Further, the research is prone to publication biases because of the inability of the investigators to report negative findings. The paper is critical in demonstrating how long-term initiatives involving parents and multidimensional strategies are needed to deal with child obesity among elementary school-aged children. The study recommends that schools increase PA, minimize sedentary behaviors, encourage fruit consumption, and undertake MBI improvement. While it may not be possible to implement all the interventions, schools can incorporate one or more interventions to deal with the obesity issue.
Constant et al.’s (2020) research assesses the weight changes between the first and last year of primary education among overweight children based on the implemented school-based programs. Further, the article examines the influence of process indicators on certain changes. The research was selected to provide insights into how school-based interventions may be employed to impact children positively. Specifically, implementing these interventions should ensure that local implementers have the freedom to identify what works better for the children. To achieve the study’s objective, the researchers use a quasi-experimental design. I selected the research because it enables the establishment of cause and effect without relying on random assignment. Being quasi-experimental, the study could demonstrate causality between the interventions and results. In the article, data were obtained from four municipalities that monitored the weight of schoolchildren and were part of the “Vivons en Forme” (VIF) program. VIF aims at promoting healthier lifestyles among children via the municipal staff and local coordinators. Each municipality provided data without identifying the specific school or region. The move aimed to ensure the confidentiality of the children involved. The results demonstrated that at inclusion, 137 children were overweight (16.6%), and 32 were obese (3.9%). After four years, 101 children were overweight (12.2%), and 31 met the criteria for obesity (3.7%). For the children who remained overweight, the BMI z-score reduced from 2.24 to 2.04 but remained unchanged for obese children. The results show that weight status improved significantly for overweight and obese children between the first and last years. The study suffers from various limitations. Firstly, it avoids a prescriptive approach which could have contributed to fostering local dynamics. It could also have impeded comparisons between balanced interventions. Secondly, the study lacked a control group, which meant that the researchers could not determine how other factors contributed to the findings over the particular period. Thirdly, the investigators failed to consider the impact of parental involvement in the results. Despite the critical role parents played, the research could not appreciate their contribution, which necessitates a study that considers parental contribution and other relevant variables. Despite the weaknesses, the study indicates that training ancillary school staff on interventions positively affects overweight and obesity among school-going children. The analysis is instrumental in demonstrating the essence of school-based prevention programs in promoting healthy behavior among learners. Local implementers should have the freedom to customize the interventions to suit the needs of the children.
The research by Sigmund, Badura & Gecková (2018) examines health-related indicators and their association with children’s physical activity. The study was selected because it explores differences in parent-child PA. The study assists in highlighting what parents can do to enhance health outcomes for their children. It recognizes that parents can influence their children towards healthy living. The researchers examine how daily step count, screen time, and organized leisure can assist children in dealing with obesity issues. The research puts a lot of emphasis on the role of parents in dealing with the problem. Parents are the primary caregivers and have a direct influence on children’s health. When dealin...