Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Obesity is characterized by a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to the 95^th percentile and currently affects nearly 17% of children and adolescents in the United States. Causes of childhood obesity are very similar to those of an adult, including behavioral factors, genetics, and community factors. Obesity is not just about being “larger in size” compared to others their age. Obesity represents a picture of an individual’s overall health and can significantly impact their current and future health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (2018), children who have obesity are more likely to have hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, joint and musculoskeletal discomfort, fatty liver, gallstones, GERD, psychological illnesses, self-esteem problems, social problems, and adult obesity. To promote better health for our future generations, we must gain control of childhood obesity. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) (2017), recommends all children from six to eighteen years of age be screened for obesity, and to be provided appropriate and effective interventions when necessary. This study not only evaluated multiple physicians screening practices, but it also looked to see if these physicians met the proper guidelines to refer patients who screened positive. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Title

            The title of this article was specific and appropriately guided the reader to understand what the report would be discussing, free of jargon. The overall nature of the topic was addressed without revealing the results to the reader. The primary variables, such as screening and treatment practices, were detectable through the title. By identifying ‘childhood obesity’, I feel that the specific population, the pediatric population, was immediately identifiable. Causality was not recognizable by the title but was mentioned later in the abstract. Overall, I do feel that the title was sufficient and appropriate in guiding the reader as to what the study would be discussing. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

ORDER HERE A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER 

Abstract

            The purpose of the study was clearly stated in the first sentence of the abstract. Immediately following, the authors began to explain their methodology of research. For this research in particular, the authors delivered a 26-question questionnaire to pediatric providers, the majority of which were in primary clinics. Approximately 57 providers completed the survey, which provided us with the sample size. The abstract then begins to yield the study results. Of the pediatricians that participated in the survey, 88% of the providers screened for obesity, but only 7% met the guidelines for referring patients who had a positive screening for obesity for appropriate weight management. It then starts to explain that of these 57 providers, only six offered appropriate interventions. The barriers to offering services included the lack of reimbursement and poor compliance by families. Implications for future research included a solution for overcoming these treatment barriers should be identified. Although it gives us the overall results of their survey, it never explains to the reader what the actual guidelines or interventions were. I feel that a glimpse of this within the abstract would give the reader slightly more information and would have been more effective for setting up the article. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Introduction

Due to the layout of the article, it was difficult to see where the abstract ended and where the introduction began. The introduction started by outlining the importance and significance of the research. According to the article, obesity is characterized by a body mass index (BMI) higher than the 95^th percentile, which currently affects 17% of our youth population in the United States. For us to gain control of this problem, there must be screenings and interventions in place. The researchers made sure to provide the national recommendation that grounded the purpose of this research, which is that all children over 6 years of age should be screened for obesity and should be referred appropriately for intensive interventions for obesity treatment. Where the interventions were not initially discussed in the abstract, the authors made sure to include them in the introduction. Interventions should include dietary, physical activity, and behavioral counseling. This study not only sought out to document how these pediatric primary care providers managed their patient’s weight, but also whether they followed clinic practice guidelines. One guideline in particular that they chose to study was for Type 2 Diabetes screening for all patients with a BMI over the 85^th percentile. This was the first time this was discussed. If they were choosing to include this in their study, I believe it should have been mentioned in the abstract as well. Key terms were identified and explained within the introduction. I do not see a specific theory tied to this research paper. Overall, I do feel like the introduction was effective and appropriate for the research produced. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Review of Literature

            The process behind how each piece of literature was selected was not discussed in this study. There were a total of 17 pieces of literature with the majority ranging anywhere from 2007 to 2015, with one outlier article from 1990. Of those references, nine of them were within five years, and seven were within 10 years from the date that the study was published, in 2017. I feel that the researchers used up-to-date literature to help guide them in their own research.  I believe the literature was cited appropriately throughout the article, and opinions and actual research findings were distinguished and recognizable to the reader. The literature was used appropriately throughout, allowing the authors to use their resources to outline the importance of this new research. I do not feel that there was an overuse of quotations, for the majority was paraphrased and cited. I believe the resources used were appropriate; however, I do wish they would have explained their process of selection to the reader.

Sample

            For this particular study, the researchers used a random sampling approach. A survey was either emailed or hand-delivered to a total of 677 healthcare providers located in 164 clinics in 28 cities within Louisiana. An additional 675 were given to stakeholders, with a letter requesting them to forward the survey to other primary care providers. Of the total 1,352 sent, approximately 70 providers responded. Of the 70 providers that responded, 13 were excluded due to only answering one question on the survey, which yielded a total sample size of 57. The participants within the sample size were located in 17 cities across Louisiana. Of those that responded, although 75% were pediatricians, there were also a few nurse practitioners, dietitians, exercise physiologists, and clinical psychologists that also provided information. Although I do believe that a larger sample size would have been more adequate, I do think that the authors presented the reader with an appropriate and effective background as to how their sample size was chosen, as well as to whom it included. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Instrumentation

            This study took a qualitative approach, by producing a 26 multiple-choice and open-ended question survey pertaining to the provider’s current practices in childhood obesity and T2DM screening and the pediatric weight management services offered at that facility. The surveys were given to physicians across the state of Louisiana within a 6-month timeframe, which I feel to be appropriate for the research being obtained. The authors provided the reader with a small sample of what the survey looked like, allowing the reader to view how the data was obtained. The online survey was deployed by the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) website, which is a web-based application to collect and store data for research. Hard-copy surveys were also entered into REDCap once sent back to the researchers. Due to how the data was collected and stored, I do believe the data was accurate and valid.

Experimental Procedures

There seemed to be three different groups within this study that were evaluated. Within this survey, the three groups of focus were: those who screened for obesity, those who screened for DM2, and those who initiated appropriate interventions when a child screened positive for obesity. Participants were not randomly assigned to a group, and conditions for research were equal, for all providers answered the same questions, and the results were grounded by their responses. The setting of the experiment took place in Louisiana, where a total of 17 cities were included in the sample size. I do believe the author’s procedures were ethical, for the survey was developed through Research Electronic Capture (REDCap). All responses were uploaded through REDCap, which was a secure,non-biased way to collect and store their data for research purposes. Protocols were followed, and I do feel that the procedures were appropriate for this research. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Results

            The researchers used a qualitative approach in this article by producing a survey, which I felt was appropriate and effective for this research. The survey enlisted a variety of questions that ultimately determined if these providers were screening for childhood obesity. If a positive screen was detected, were the providers then conducting screening for T2DM and providing or referring these children for appropriate interventions, such as diet, behavioral counseling, and exercise? All results were then compared to the national recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Approximately 88% of the providers reported screening for obesity by calculating the patient’s BMI. Of these, 63% reported testing for T2DM. Around 64% of the providers offered some type of intervention or service, such as nutrition therapy, medical monitoring, and exercise services. However, there are a total of 7 national recommendations regarding the screening and interventions. This study found that only 5 of the 57 providers met at least half of the seven recommendations, with only 1 provider meeting six of the seven. The intervention recommendations were hardly met, with only 6 providers offering all three recommended interventions (dietary, physical activity, and behavioral counseling). It is sometimes easy to get lost in the wording, so the authors made sure to provide the reader with graphs and examples of their data collection in comparison to the national recommendations. The results were adequate, and I felt like this section was very effective in providing the reader with an appropriate understanding of the yielded results. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Discussion

The results were discussed and summarized for the readers to gain an understanding of what the findings of the research yielded. The authors did an excellent job of referencing previous literature, that enabled the reader to compare these results to past results founded. It is stated that providers noted multiple factors that created barriers to the provision of services, such as lack of resources, lack of reimbursement for nutritional counseling services, and poor compliance by patients and families. Proposed future research would include recognizing the reasons behind barriers and offering solutions to overcome these barriers. Overall, I feel that the conclusions presented positively reflect the data obtained.

In conclusion, I find this to be quality research regarding the importance surrounding proper screening and intervening with childhood obesity. The authors provided a great amount of literature that outlined the true epidemic surrounding childhood obesity and the complications that can accompany these children in the present and future. I did not recognize any significant flaws of this study, other than the fact that I would have liked to see a larger sample size. However, with the nature of how the research was conducted, providing a survey can often result in few responses. This research relates to my researchable problem because I tend to do a chart audit in a rural town in Arkansas, to see if providers in that clinic are properly screening for childhood obesity and providing interventions if there is a positive screen. I too will then compare that to the national recommendation to see if that clinic is below or above the national recommendation. Overall, I do believe this to be a worthy study, and I would have allowed my name to be on the article. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper

Access this article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5321613/

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

Staiano, A., Marker, A., Liu, M., Hayden, E., Daniel, H., & Broyles, S. (2017). Childhood obesity

screening and treatment practices of pediatric healthcare providers. Louisiana State Medical Society, 169(1), 2-10. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5321613/

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/obesity-in-children-and-adolescents-screening1?ds=1&s=obesity

MAKE YOUR ORDER NOW

Perform a literature search and critique one of the articles from your literature search that pertains to your researchable problem. Use the attached critique paper to guide you in your critique. Your critique should include a title page, critique of the article, and a reference page. Ensure the title page, critique, and reference page are constructed utilizing correct APA format. There is also an example article critique that you can use as a template and a rubric available for review. Childhood Obesity Screening And Treatment Practices of Paediatric Healthcare Essay Paper