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Nurse Influence On Childhood Obesity

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The Health and Social Care Information Centre [HSCIC] (2016) report that obesity prevalence in the UK has increased by 11% between 1996 and 2016, with 58% of women and 65% of men being overweight or obese. The World Health Organisation (2016) define obesity as the disproportionate build-up of fat that could harm an individual’s health. Obesity is measured using Body Mass Index (BMI). An individual’s BMI is measured using an individual’s weight and height, by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of the height in metres. If an individual has a BMI higher than 30, they are classified as obese (NHS, 2016). With obesity having such as high prevalence in the UK, this piece of writing will look at the influence that obesity can have on …show more content…

Kopelman, Caterson and Dietz (2010) recognise the role of the nurse in acting as advocates for encouraging healthy lifestyles with the family, as well as the child. They refer to Behaviour Change Theory; stating that change can only commence if the individual is ready. With this, NICE (2014) recommend nurses to work with families to combat childhood obesity; to assess and recognise whether a family are ready to change their lifestyle. With this, a key skill, is for the nurse to have the ability to educate the child and the family about their lifestyle. Education can provide children and family with the information that they need to make healthy choices. This follows Principles of Nursing Practice (Royal College of Nursing 2016). Principle D states that nurses must encourage care that puts the person at the centre, but also involves familieis in treatment and any decisions made. Involving the family may also help to produce new family behaviours (Kopelman and Dietz, 2010). They continue, stating that a nurse must have a non-judgemental attitude, in order for the child and family to work with the …show more content…

PHE recognise many reasons for this, one of them being that obesity could be a side effect to medication that they may be on; as well as behavioural, environmental and biological elements. With this, the nurse must have a holistic view of the persons in order to treat them. . This directly relates to the 6 Action Areas of the 6 C’s (NHS England, 2013). The 5th action relates to ensuring that the NHS have the correct staff with the correct skills to ensure the right care is being delivered to meet needs of the service-user. PHE (2016) recognise poor diet and lack of exercise as key contributors of obesity for people with LD; therefore the nurse would have to work with members of the MDT, such as dieticians and

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