Standing

Graduate (Masters)

Type of Proposal

Oral Research Presentation

Faculty

Faculty of Nursing

Faculty Sponsor

Dr Kate Kemplin

Proposal

An Integrative Review of School-Based Interventions for Addressing Childhood Obesity

Introduction:

According to Statistics Canada (2016), 1 in 7 children in Canada suffer from obesity. The terms “obesity” and “overweight” are described as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that is harmful to one's health. Children suffering from obesity have reported a higher incidence of psychosocial distress in comparison to children of healthy weight.

Methods:

Due to these alarming rates in the surge of childhood obesity, an intervention needs to be addressed and implemented. There have been multiple studies and systematic reviews on the topic, although little has been done to implement successful strategies. We conducted an integrative review of both quantitative and qualitative studies to better understand what has previously been known on this topic and what the next steps are to combat childhood obesity. Whittemore and Knafl’s strategies were utilized to create our integrative review to ensure rigour by utilizing their framework (Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).

Results:

Our initial analysis indicates that implementing health promotion strategies such as increased physical activity, healthy eating in the classroom by using a teach the teacher method and actively involving parents in the intervention group will likely result in long term compliance in reduction of BMI. Thus decreasing mental health illnesses correlated with elevated BMI in youth.

Conclusions:

This review will be used to educate about the prevalence of childhood obesity and the importance of the implementation of health promotion strategies.

Key words: childhood obesity, education, nutrition, chronic disease, prevention

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An Integrative Review of School-Based Interventions for Addressing Childhood Obesity

An Integrative Review of School-Based Interventions for Addressing Childhood Obesity

Introduction:

According to Statistics Canada (2016), 1 in 7 children in Canada suffer from obesity. The terms “obesity” and “overweight” are described as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that is harmful to one's health. Children suffering from obesity have reported a higher incidence of psychosocial distress in comparison to children of healthy weight.

Methods:

Due to these alarming rates in the surge of childhood obesity, an intervention needs to be addressed and implemented. There have been multiple studies and systematic reviews on the topic, although little has been done to implement successful strategies. We conducted an integrative review of both quantitative and qualitative studies to better understand what has previously been known on this topic and what the next steps are to combat childhood obesity. Whittemore and Knafl’s strategies were utilized to create our integrative review to ensure rigour by utilizing their framework (Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).

Results:

Our initial analysis indicates that implementing health promotion strategies such as increased physical activity, healthy eating in the classroom by using a teach the teacher method and actively involving parents in the intervention group will likely result in long term compliance in reduction of BMI. Thus decreasing mental health illnesses correlated with elevated BMI in youth.

Conclusions:

This review will be used to educate about the prevalence of childhood obesity and the importance of the implementation of health promotion strategies.

Key words: childhood obesity, education, nutrition, chronic disease, prevention