Childhood Obesity: Annotated Bibliography

Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic which has significantly risen over the past three decades and there is no chance in sight of slowing it down unless real action is taken. This major health crisis continues to reduce individuals’ quality of life and has caused severe health problem like heart disease which is the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In most cases, obese children grow up to be an obese adult. The prevalence of childhood obesity can be addressed through education initiatives such as school prevention programs because children spent a majority of their time outside of the home at school, therefore school provides a great opportunity to educate and improve a child’s health at an ideal point before the problem gets worst. My paper will focus on childhood obesity prevention in Hill Top Middle school Lodi, New Jersey.

What was the purpose of this study? (i.e., what question(s) did the authors want to answer?)

·  What conclusions did the study reach? Are the conclusions appropriate? Why or why not?

“The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake” a quote made by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, as she launches her comprehensive initiative to change the way children think about nutrition and physical fitness (“Learn the Facts,” 2010). Three decades ago, children lived active lives that kept them healthier. They walked to and from school, ate home cooked, reasonable portion meals with vegetables and played outdoors most of the time. Today, children ride the bus instead of walk, eat more fast food and snacks throughout the day because parents are busier, and watch more television or play video games rather than be active outside with peers (“Learn the Facts,” 2010). Young children are becoming overweight and obese along with being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes more frequently. They are making poor dietary choices, inadequate physical activity, and spending too much screen time all contributing to the obesity crisis. One of the effective solutions to reversing the trend of childhood obesity is to provide safe, affordable and accessible after-school health and physical fitness educational programs for all school ages across the nation.

What search terms did you use to locate this research study to analyze? What database did you use? What was your rationale for selecting this particular study to analyze over the others identified in the search results? What is the full reference for the study in APA format?

School lunches, curriculum focus, and daily activities have changed in elementary schools over the years. The nutritional value in school lunches often meet a bare minimum. Curriculum is focused strongly on idealistic future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; but often forget teaching basic healthy habits needed for lifelong health. Physical education is no longer required every single day. Obesity has become an epidemic and not just for adults, it is increasingly affecting children as well. Children spend a generous amount of time in the classroom. They spend more time in school than at home or anywhere else. Therefore, schools have a responsibility in preventing obesity in adolescents by teaching them healthy habits, serving them nutritious food, and providing them with adequate physical activity.

According to Cummings, Welch, Mason, Burbage, Kwon, and Kuo (2014) the food environment is the most important factor in combating childhood obesity. For children and adolescents the school nutrition programs are major parts of the food environment (Cummings et al., n.d.). “Adequate energy and nutrients are required for young children’s growth and development, but excess energy over the long term can lead to overweight and obesity” (Briefel et al., 2013 P.269). There are many different factors that contribute to the continuing growth of childhood obesity.

How did you select this research study to analyze? That is, what search terms did you use? What database did you use? What was your rationale for selecting this particular study to analyze over the others identified in the search results? What is the full reference for the study in APA format?

Childhood obesity is one of the major health challenges of the 21st century. (World Health Organization, 2016). In the last 30 years, obesity has more than doubled in children. Overweight and obesity are the result of caloric imbalance and can cause physical and psychological problems in children. A global shift in dietary habits and lack of physical activity play a crucial role in childhood obesity. Healthy lifestyle habits, such as healthy eating and physical activity can reduce the risk of becoming obese. School plays an important role in establishing a safe and supportive environment with policies and practices that support healthy behaviors (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). The fifty state legislation on childhood obesity policy was enacted in 2013. Many states including, Texas has enacted some type of school nutrition legislation but not on physical education (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2013). Therefore, the author decided to contact a policymaker, a local school board member of Plano, Texas to implement the existing policies of school nutrition and physical activity.

What ethical issues were addressed? How were they addressed? (Here you might need to infer how the researcher or researchers met high ethical standards.)

Summary. This campaign is to highlight the importance of a national movement designed to give parents, caregivers, and entire communities a way to help children stay at a healthy weight. The We Can! National education program offers parents and caregivers with implements, fun activities, and more to help them encourage healthy eating, enlarge physical activity, and decreased time sitting in front of the screen in their family. This campaign is aimed to bring awareness to families to the benefits of helping young children become healthier.

What reasons did the researchers have in carrying out this research and what significance does it have. The research design that was chosen, what reasons are behind it being chosen? Did the researchers achieve their objective?

My emphasis in this assignment is to develop, implement, and assess a teaching plan concentrated on good nutrition and daily exercise for school age children. The early years are a critical time for founding good eating habits and attitude about food and exercise. Children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults. This is a major public health risk to the wellbeing of children. Recent literature supports the positive effects of good nutrition on the brain development and mental health. Limited exercise in

This research has led to encouraging healthy eating habits and plenty of exercise. Making sure children get enough exercise during the day has led to the implementation of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” Campaign and the National Football League’s “Fuel Up to Play 60” programs (Let’s Move!, 2016; Fuel Up to Play 60, 2016). So far, however, very little evidence supports that these programs have decreased obesity rates in America (Miterko, 2016). In fact, the only age group that shows any significant decline in obesity rates are between two and five years of age (Torres, 2014; Liptak, 2015). Both of these programs take well-known figures to encourage activity in children, primarily focusing on age eight through the early teenage years (Miterko, 2016). They are established by community organization and policy enforcement to implement food and activity programs in schools and families across the country (Thompson & Carman, 2015). Due to the evidence that suggests that the implemented programs are not working effectively, we propose to focus on obesity from another angle, on nutrition rather than physical activity. Our group would like to develop a plate that encourages children to eat healthy and well portioned foods from each food group. The plate we would design would incorporate colors and an interactive design to have the kids

The research questions are not clearly stated in a question format; however, in the introduction, the researcher states there has been scarce data related to the following statements and little knowledge