Running Head: OVERCOMING… 1

Overcoming Childhood Obesity

Jordan Jones

Auburn University at Montgomery

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Overcoming Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is becoming one of the biggest problems our nation faces today. Not

only is the child’s health affected, other issues can arise from this altered health status. Health

care providers need to be aware of external factors are affected by a child's overall health

(Hopkins et al., 2016). Health care professionals must implement specific interventions for

children suffering from childhood obesity to promote mental health, increase parental

involvement, and increase academic success.

One intervention health care professionals can do toward promoting mental health is

early screening for mental health disorders for children who are overweight for their age

(Lochrie et al., 2013). Children who are overweight are at more risk for developing a mental

health disorder when they become older. Not only should health care professionals look for early

signs of depression, but looking for the trigger that causes or contributes to the depression. The

image overweight children have about their bodies, how isolated they may become, or how they

may lose interest in daily activities can be addressed and improved upon if children focus on

staying healthy (Lochrie et al., 2013). The authors go on to state that certain types of

psychosocial behaviors are on the same level of importance as specific medical comorbidities

(Lochrie et al., 2013). Assessing a child’s external environment and how it affects their internal

self-esteem can affect the way they view themselves in wanting to initiate change (Lochrie et al.,

2013).

Camp NERF (Nutrition Education Recreation and Fitness) was created as an example of

an evidence-based program demonstrating how certain interventions could decrease the rate of

childhood obesity (Hopkins et al., 2016). This camp specifically targeted a certain population

who were observed over an 8-week period during which certain criteria were implemented to
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show how the rate of childhood obesity would decrease with these interventions (Hopkins et al.,

2016). One of the many components this program offered was child education, as well as

parental involvement, regarding physical activity. Children often model parental behaviors. With

parents being more disciplined with scheduling time set aside for physical activities, children

increase more time doing physical activity, decrease the amount of fat they consume in their diet,

and encourage the caregivers/parents to initiate more of these activities and lessening computer

screen time. Children will then establish a pattern and know that physical activity assists with

total health, which lowers their chance of becoming overweight in the future.

Warschburger (2005) demonstrated that overweight children performed less academically

(Warschburger, 2005). Numerous factors can be analyzed when looking into overweight

children’s academic success. Not only can academic achievement can be somewhat difficult for

an overweight child, but social skills in the school setting, and attendance rate of these children

are also factors contributing to the child’s overall success. If an overweight child’s self-esteem is

low, they are more likely to be isolated in the classroom, not participate in group work, not

attentive during class time, or possibly have behavioral problems in regard to their frustration

with these body-shape issues (Warschburger, 2005). Recognizing this phenomena that can arise

from being overweight, parents should be extremely attentive to signs of academic decline in

their children (Warschburger, 2005).

Multiple interventions can be made to reduce the rate of childhood obesity, promote

mental health, increasing parental involvement to promote change, and increasing academic

success. Health care professionals need to take into consideration the rate at which obesity is

increasing for more children and the interventions that can be put in place to help combat this

epidemic. Caregivers of these children need to realize how important their role is when initiating
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daily physical activity to begin change. Not only will the rate of overweight children decrease,

the ability to strive academically will improve, and the rate of mental health disorders will

hopefully also improve.

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Reference

Hopkins, L. C., Fristad, M., Goodway, J. D., Eneli, I., Holloman, C., Kennel, J. A., . . . Gunther,

C. (2016). Camp NERF: Methods of a theory-based nutrition education recreation and

fitness program aimed at preventing unhealthy weight gain in underserved elementary

children during summer months. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 2-12. doi:10.1186/s12889-

016-3765-7

Lochrie, A. S., Wysocki, T., Hossain, J., Milkes, A., Antal, H., Buckloh, L., . . . Lang, J. (2013).

The effects of a family-based intervention (FBI) for overweight/obese children on health

and psychological functioning. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 1(2), 159-170.

doi:10.1037/cpp0000020

Warschburger, P. (2005). The unhappy obese child. International Journal of Obesity, 29(S2),

127-129. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803097