Introduction
The childhood obesity has become a serious issue in the past decade. Due to an unhealthy lifestyle, a lack of physical activity, and harmful dieting more children have become overweight and even obese. Nearly 19% of children aged 2-19 struggle with obesity (Coimbra et al., 2017). The Body Mass Index (or BMI) has increased significantly among school-aged children; however, these are consequences of ineffective strategies to keep children healthy and maintain their BMI within normal rates. The educational establishments have to adopt new techniques such as short physical exercises and a more active academic life.
The Spirit of Inquiry Ignited
There is a stigma that obese children are not sick. However, the typical symptoms of obesity among children are stretch marks all over the stomach, thighs, or back. Obese children experience difficulties while exercising whether complications relate to respiratory issues, high blood pressure, and problems with the heartbeat. All of these factors are apparent symptoms which do not require complex medical tests. Some people believe that childhood obesity is related to body growth. In some cases it might be true; however, it is a wrong stereotype. Lack of physical activity and unhealthy nutrition are two major factors which lead to overweight among children.
Usually, in order to determine whether an individual is obese BMI is used. It is a simple relation between height and body weight. The index helps to determine an ideal weight of the child in accordance with one’s physical development. It is obvious that two children with different height might have different weight. However, BMI has a standard system of percentages. If the relation of the weight and height results in 95% or more, the child is considered obese. Even though the method is simple, it proves to be effective and precise. Overall, the obesity can be detected among children, and it can be treated.
The PICOT Question Formulated
PICOT: Children (P) participate in 30 minutes of physical activity every day (I), and how it compares to a day without it (C), according to the body mass index (O), which is measured after the end of an academic year which is typically 8 months (T).
Search Strategy Conducted
To understand a problem of obesity and collect essential data for the analysis of the topic, several online journals are used. These journals provide a vision of specialists from different areas including pediatrics, therapists, and other scientists who propose an optimal program in schools to create a balance between academic life and active lifestyle. All of the authors of the articles agree that childhood obesity is a severe issue and BMI is a useful tool in determining the state of an individual. Hence, by implementing new policies aimed at an increase in physical activity, it is possible to decrease BMI significantly to the appropriate result of 85% or below.
Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Performed
The articles focus on correlation between daily activities and weight loss among children and how effective exercises are for prevention of overweight. For children, school is the second environment where they spend the majority of their time. Hence, it is vital to create healthy conditions for physical development. A study by Coimbra suggests that physical exercises help to improve metabolism and increase the presence of hepcidin in the blood which positively influences loss of BMI (Coimbra et al., 2017). Researchers like Tarro concentrate more on programs in primary school, which implies that the problem has reached a serious scale of the pandemic since children have to care for their body since the first years in education.
Apart from that, Pbert and colleagues conduct research on children and adults, where participants have to lose weight in school (Pbert et al., 2016). It is an excellent example of how simple activity and exercises can result in a tendency of weight loss. It also allows being more attractive to more students, as there are many participants who work together on their bodies (Tarro et al., 2014). At the same time, there is also an article about the prevention program which does not work in school (Larsen et al., 2016). It does not provide any substantial changes and is ineffective; hence, these measures should not be considered in the research as plausible options for BMI reduction among children (“A school-based obesity prevention programme was ineffective”, 2018).
Evidence Integrated with Clinical Expertise and Patient Preferences to Implement the Best Practice
The main goal for the research is to provide an answer on whether daily activity is effective and to what extent it is effective, compared to a day without one. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand an extent of its effectiveness of this physical activity in school. A clinical question examines if the physical activity for only half an hour a day can reduce BMI. The research has to be conducted during a period of no less than eight months. It is better to conduct analysis during 12-18 months for a more detailed result. As for the stakeholders, the patients are the core audience. In this case, patients are children with obesity and children who want to prevent overweight. At the same time, teachers and nurses can be stakeholders in the research as well.
Outcome of Practice Change Evaluated
In order to evaluate the actual influence of exercises on obesity among children, it is necessary to measure BMI before, during, and after the period of research. The comparison of the indexes at different stages of the test can reveal the progression of weight loss. Apart from that, it will be useful to use questionnaires and interviews with children in order to evaluate their attitude, dedication, and personal opinion about the situation. The interview can be used as a source of information regarding the quality of exercises and potential improvements. As for the children without obesity who are willing to participate, it is possible to measure their BMI as well in order to see how physical activity influence non-obese children.
Project Dissemination
Managers and supervisors can analyze the data and give some valuable feedback on the matter. Their professional opinion and criticism can be used as platform to improve the project and create better environment for future studies and participants of the test. Additionally, it is necessary to inform parents about the results as well because children’s health depends on their involvement and decisions. Furthermore, managers and parents can cooperate and develop a consistent schedule or a type of physical activity which will be relevant and beneficial for everyone.
Conclusion
In conclusion, childhood obesity is a pandemic for the modern population. However, there are simple and effective methods to prevent it and reduce the weight of children. A set of physical exercises for 30 minutes per day is an effective and safe method to help children reduce BMI and to avoid being obese. The physical activity has a significant impact on childhood obesity because it is caused by passive lifestyle and unhealthy dieting. The simple and easy exercises can change the inactive academic life of the students in school.
References
A school-based obesity prevention programme was ineffective. (2018). Web.
Coimbra, S., Catarino, C., Nascimento, H., Alves, A. I., Medeiros, A. F., Bronze-Da-Rocha, E.,… Belo, L. (2017). Physical exercise intervention at school improved hepcidin, inflammation, and iron metabolism in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Pediatric Research, 82(5), 781-788.
Larsen, K. T., Huang, T., Ried-Larsen, M., Andersen, L. B., Heidemann, M., & Møller, N. C. (2016). A multi-component day-camp weight-loss program is effective in reducing BMI in Children after One Year: A randomized controlled trial. Plos One, 11(6). Web.
Pbert, L., Druker, S., Barton, B., Schneider, K. L., Olendzki, B., Gapinski, M. A.,… Osganian, S. (2016). A school-based program for overweight and obese adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. The Journal of School Health, 86(10), 699-708.
Tarro, L., Llauradó, E., Albaladejo, R., Moriña, D., Arija, V., Solà, R., & Giralt, M. (2014). A primary-school-based study to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity – the EdAl (Educació en Alimentació) study: A randomized controlled trial. Trials, 15(1), 58. Web.