Comprehensive Case Study

Introduction

This is a case of a five-year-old child with an overweight condition. Even though the parents of the five-year-old child are overweight, they are concerned about the wellbeing of their child and they have brought him to the healthcare center to get some advice on how they can ensure they bring up their child in a more healthy way. Research has shown that many children who have overweight issues before they reach puberty can develop severe cases of obesity later in their adult years and it can result in increased mortality and morbidity. 

The preschool years normally between birth and year five represents a critical opportunity for children to develop healthy eating habits, be active, and maintain healthy growth and life (DeFronzo, Ferrannini, Alberti, Zimmet, & Alberti, 2015). For this reason, surveillance of childhood obesity and overweight in this age group can help come up with strategies that can be used by parents or caregivers to ensure that their children suffer from overweight or obesity. This shows the seriousness of this issue and it will be up to me to get as much information from these parents in order to come up with a strategy that can be used to help the child lose some weight and be able to live a normal life.

Why children become overweight

There are three main reasons why children may grow overweight and obese. The genetic makeup of a child is one of the major reasons that may lead to weight issues in a child. There are some people who have a genetic makeup that allows much of the food eaten, especially starch to be converted in fat and stored in the body (Hall, 2015). Children with such genetic makeup are more likely to be overweight even though they might not be eating unhealthy foods. Poor eating habits that revolve around eating unhealthy foods such as fast food like burgers, french fries, and pizzas are another reason why children become obese. The last cause of obesity in children is lack of physical exercises such as playing soccer in the field, running, and riding a bike. Many children today stay at home and play with toys or video games and this is what leads to being overweight (Hall, 2015).           

Three specific questions I will ask the child’s parents

1. What kind of food do you give your child? I want to know the kind of food he eats in a typical week. 
2. Does your child participate in physical exercises and games in school or at home with other children? What I mean by physical exercises is games that are physically tasking such as running, riding a bicycle, or playing soccer 
3. Is there a history of obesity and overweight in your family? 

Provide at least two strategies you could employ to encourage the parents or caregivers to be proactive about their child’s health and weight

Having asked the questions above and received the answers from the parents, I can categorically say the child’s overweight condition has been brought about by two main factors and they are lack of physical exercises and eating unhealthy foods (Hall, 2015). 

I would encourage the parents to start eating and feeding their child with healthy foods. The food to be eaten in their homes should be made up of more vegetables, cereals, milk, and white meat. Unhealthy foods such as fast foods, red meat, and beverages such as soda should be avoided at all times (Hall, 2015). This will help decrease the number of calories. The second strategy would be to advise the parents to encourage their child to do more tasking physical exercises such as walking, running, swimming, and playing outside in the field with other children (Hall, 2015). 

References

DeFronzo, R. A., Ferrannini, E., Alberti, K. G. M. M., Zimmet, P., & Alberti, G. (Eds.). (2015). Obesity in Children. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Hall, J. E. (2015). Obesity and overweight in children. Elsevier Health Sciences.

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