Assessment Of The Prevalence And Risk Factors Of Obesity In School Aged Children

Introduction of The Prevalence & Risk Factors Of Obesity In School Aged Children - Assessment Sample

Prevalence of childhood obesity in school-aged children

Obesity is the most prevalent form of malnutrition in the UK and it is estimated that 20-40% of children are affected due to obesity (Oluwasanu et al. 2021). Obesity is an accumulation of body fat that is relatively heavier than the ideal body weight. According to previous studies, it is shown that the number of overweight children under the age of 5 years is obese and increases due to rapid changes in dietary practices. Various other studies indicate that the prevalence of overweight among children of all ages is increasing in the UK and the current trends of prevalence are emerging day by day.  Excessive weight gain during childhood can result due to several factors and feeding and dietary habits are important to contribute significantly to childhood obesity. According to the study by Adom et al. (2019), the prevalence increased from 8.1 to 12.9% in boys and from 8.4 to 13.4% in girls in the country of UK. As per their study unhealthy, weight gains in children can arise from energy imbalance and result from poor dietary habits.

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Risk factors associated with the development of childhood obesity among the school-aged children

Figure 1: Risk factors of childhood obesity

(Source: Inspired by Singh et al. 2021; Larqué et al. 2019)

Different risk factors are there that are associated with the development of childhood obesity. According to some studies, diet is an important factor for obesity as regular high-calorie foods, fast foods, baked goods, and snacks cause the child to gain weight (Singh et al. 2021). Different sugary drinks and sports drinks are also responsible for gaining weight in children. Larqué  et al. (2019) argued that another risk factor of childhood obesity is a lack of exercise. According to some studies, children playing video games and watching television are more likely to gain weight as they don’t burn many calories as they required. Some studies revealed that people in different community does not have adequate sources or access to markets so they might buy convenience foods such as crackers and cookies (Sievert et al. 2019). This result in gaining obesity and some psychological factors such as parental as well as the personal stress are responsible for increasing the risk of childhood obesity. This is because the children were unable to cope with the problems to fight stress and boredom.

Background of the research

Childhood obesity is a major medical condition that affects children. It is particularly troubling because it starts children on the path to different health problems. It can lead to depression and poor self-esteem. Child obesity has reached epidemic levels in different countries like developed and developing countries. Statistical data indicates that 14.4% of children belonging to age 4-5 years are obese. On the other hand, children belonging to 10 to 11 years of age have a obesity prevalence of about 25.5% (Parliament.uk, 2022). It has a significant impact on both psychological and physical health. Obesity in children develops many non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Kansra et al. 2021). There is a progressive rise in the prevalence of obesity and it considers different forms of the global problem of malnutrition.

Figure 2: Prevalence of Childhood obesity in the UK

(Source: Parliament.uk, 2022)

It has become one of the most serious challenges affecting many countries and the prevalence has increased at an alarming rate. The research facilitates different conventional treatment procedures that help to prevent the main cause of obesity. The implementation of different treatment procedures along with risk factors and prevalence of obesity allows diversified working nature to indicate the management of obesity (Adeniyi et al. 2019). Prevention of obesity is the only feasible option for current treatment practices for obese children and it is largely aimed at bringing the problem under control with an effective care treatment. 

Rationale of research

The UK is facing the problematic situation of prevalence and risk factors of obesity. It has grown up to significant numbers in this country and many other developing countries. "WHO" has provided some suitable treatment procedures to identify the factors of obesity and provides the best services to prevent future concomitant issues. According to the survey done in 2021, it has highlighted that obesity affects children across all age groups. Obese children can suffer from different psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, peer relationship, and eating disorders (Hardy and Mihrshahi, 2020). The depicted factors have become an issue due to the lack of proper treatment procedures along with creating awareness about the food habit of children.  It is estimated globally that about 155 million children are obese and the prevalence rate stands at 27% in 2021.

The lack of awareness with decreased levels of physical activity, and poor dietary practices are some of the risk factors that are associated with obesity. The overall study sheds light on the issues of increasing risk of childhood obesity in the UK to identify different assessment factors of the issues and reflects best treatment measures.

Aims of study

The key aim of the research study is to assess the factors of obesity in school-going children. It aims to incorporate some nutritional policies that will help to mitigate the problem of the high prevalence of obesity.  

Objective of study

• To identify the impact of obesity on school-going children.
• To promote different nutritional policies that will help to mitigate the problem.
• To assess the factors of obesity for identifying future concomitant issues.
• To make certain changes in dietary habits to carry out the high prevalence of obesity.

Methodology

Study design

The design of the study refers to the overall strategy of research that the researcher has considered in the study to contemplate several components together to assess the risk factors of obesity in a logical manner (Yusuf et al. 2020). The research will be proceeded by implementing Explorative research design. It will create scopes for future research with a conclusive design and explores some paths that have not previously been studied in depth. 

Primary data collection method will be executed for generating authentic outcomes based on real-time experience of the participants. The collection of data conducted by the researcher will be helpful to understand the problem and design the problem of research.

Survey process: Survey is an efficient strategy to accumulate information regarding the topic of research and most researchers consider the process as it enhances the range of information from proper sources. In this research, the survey process will help a lot to collect information regarding the risk factors and prevalent stages of obesity in school-going children and will be very much helpful for analyzing the area of research with a profound conclusion.

Numeric data will be analysed quantitatively in this research for maintain the objectivity of the research. Quantitative analysis: This design will include the collection of numerical information and statistical data to find the kind of assessment and patterns for the obesity of school-going children to provide the effectiveness of the method of research.

Study population

The population that will be chosen for conducting the survey will include the parents of the children who are suffering from childhood obesity. Nutritional experts will also be included in this population for generating deeper knowledge on the prevalence of childhood obesity. Quantitative analysis is done in this research to analyze the relationship between obesity and several other factors that include types of consumed food by the children and level of physical activities (Wanghi et al. 2020). Primary data collection helps to collect the responses with clarity to meet the desired objectives for research and reflects the dietary patterns and eating habits of most of the children. Such a process of collection of data identifies the relationship between the variables to dissect appropriate information on the research topic.

Interventions and observations

The research represents most comprehensive synthesis of obesity prevention interventions for school-going children and the findings are not consistent. Several students have not participated during the primary data analysis and the school authority was also not convinced to give information about their students. The intervention includes an explicit diet with some diversification in content that neither reported a positive effect (Tanveer et al. 2022). The study reveals that family-based approaches are among the most intervening factors in childhood obesity. Various observations through different research designs reflect that being overweight and obese has significant implications on the social well-being and health of primary school children. The observation also reveals the fact that overweight and obese children will experience several health problems such as excessive sweating, hypertension, and shortness of breath.

Sampling process and sample size

For this study, the researcher will use simple random sampling to collect data that can be easily constructed and assembled and will provide the most accurate result considering the population of school-going children. Primary data collection will help to understand the problem of the research topic and analyzes different factors for obesity in school-going children (Criado et al. 2018). It will provide an equal chance of selection among children that are obese. The sample size for conducting the survey will be 51 out of 100 population size.

Data management and analysis

The data analysis method is used to evaluate the results of all data that scrutinizes information gathered from the selective process of data collection. It will build a proper idea to analyze the effect and implications of obesity and overweight to construct a concept by using different methods. Each of the methods will be used for gathering the information to carry out the prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors (Hayes et al. 2018). It will reflect the lack of the effect of primary analysis for prevention of intervention to identify the effect of obesity among children. 

Conducting a proposal needs different methods of collection. The sources of data are obtained through proper observation while considering the effects of obesity in school-going children. The data has been collected for the prevalence and risk factors of obesity in school-going children by forming a constructed method of research designs. Several research designs are used for the primary collection of data. The collected were was obtained from various public and private schools in the UK to reflect all resources and facilitate in-point information about the risk factors that enhance the statute of obesity day by day (Hoare et al. 2019). The used method will be beneficial to point out all the problems and solutions regarding the up surging effect of obesity among small children. The study reveals that children at the age bar 7-10 years suffer most from being overweight and obese. 

Ethical considerations

The relative research follows the protocols of confidentiality with the code of ethics. The whole research has been conducted ethically with the collection of authentic data. The research has been conducted with proper maintenance of the ethical code and the information will not be used for commercial purposes. Privacy is maintained in this research with confidentiality of the number of schools and children and proper permission has been taken from different schools for conducting the research. The researcher also maintained the Data Protection act of 2018 (Gov.uk, 2018). The data has been kept completely secure during the observation and progression of data and are solely meant for academic usage.

Expected outcomes

The research study effectively implemented the process of identifying the prevalence and risk factors of obesity to study the effect of obesity among children. The research will provide information about the effects and risk factors of obesity that include various health problems such as hypertension and decreasing self-esteem. The research will help to analyze the relationship between external factors and internal factors that might arise due to lack of exercise, dietary habits, and consumption of fast food (Gupta et al. 2019). The procedure of research will help to communicate with several schools to identify the age group of children that are suffering from being overweight. Such an analysis helps to determine the problematic factors and their solutions to reduce the level of intervention. The research objectives will help to identify the impact and assess the factors that are responsible for such a non-communicable disease. It also reflects the fact that the number of children suffering from obesity is increasing in the UK day by day and the research will be beneficial to point out the solutions regarding the up surging effect of obesity among children. 

References

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