Journal of Pediatric Nursing (2014) 29, 491–492
EDITORIAL Special Issue on Childhood Overweight and Obesity Childhood overweight and obesity has become a national health crisis of immense magnitude. The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has increased more than threefold for school-age children and adolescents since 1980 (Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010). Illustrative of the enormity of this health crisis, 34% of school-age children are overweight and 18% are obese (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal,). The potential consequences of childhood overweight and obesity have far reaching consequences upon the health status of future generations of adults that include type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal, pulmonary, cardiovascular and psychosocial problems (American Heart Association, 2013; Freedman, Mei, Srinvasan, Berenson, & Dietz, 2007; Reilly & Kelly, 2011). The ten articles on the topic of childhood overweight and obesity of this special issue represent a diverse range of subjects undertaken by the research and authoring teams of these articles. Several of these articles have directly investigated the perspective of the children and adolescents themselves as it pertains to intervention approaches and their perceptions of their overweight and obese status. Dr. Lyles' study How Adolescents Boys Perceive Their Bodies, Body Parts and Weight: Letting Adolescent Boys' Voices Be Heard enlarges our understanding of the self-perceptions of this age group of boys who have weight problems. These findings provide additional context for incorporating intervention techniques into weight management frameworks of care. The findings of the article The Relationship of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2014.09.010 0882-5963/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Obesity and Weight Gain to Childhood Teasing, by the authoring team led by Feeg, demonstrate the social consequences of teasing upon children who are overweight and obese. The pilot study conducted by Collins and Champion, Assessment of Mobile Device and SMS Use for Diet and Exercise Information Among Rural MexicanAmerican Adolescents, explored Mexican American adolescents' perspectives with the use this intervention method to disseminate diet and exercise information. The adolescents' responses provide perspectives that can be integrated into this adolescent-friendly methodology. Other studies published in this issue explore the complex relationship of biopsychosocial factors with childhood overweight and obesity. The article Demographic, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Variables Associated with Overweight and Obesity in Low-Active Girls conveys the findings of the study conducted by research team led by Vanden Bosch that examined an array of variables associated with body mass index. As reported, differences are found between students who are and are not overweight and obese as associated with the variables studied. A secondary analysis of Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data is reported in the article by Fan, Jin, and Khuchandani, Overweight Misperception among Adolescents in the United States. The findings reveal specific discrepancies between perceptions and reported overweight statistics related to gender and race. Two studies explored the role and involvement of caregivers and providers with children who are overweight and obese. Tipton's study Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Caregiver's Intention to Serve Sugar Sweetened Beverages to Non-Hispanic Black Preschoolers, explored caregivers' intention to provide high caloric
492 beverages to non-Hispanic black preschoolers. The findings of this study based on the Theory of Planned Behavior provide insights as to the factors that influence caregivers' intention. The research team led by Dr. Aldrich explored the weight management practices employed by school-based providers who care for children in school settings who are overweight and obese as reported in the article School-Based Health Center Providers' Treatment of Overweight Children. This community-based study offers insights about child-oriented providers who live and work with children in this naturalistic setting that is vital to the lives of children. Three articles address intervention models that demonstrate promise in working with children who are overweight and obese. The review conducted by authors Falvery, Marvicsin, and Danford, entitled An Integrative Review of Sleep Interventions and Related Clinical Implications for Obesity Treatment in Children, identified the sleep interventions that may serve as preventive approaches for childhood overweight and obesity. Dr. LaSala's study as reported in the Effectiveness of a Child's Fable on the Cognition of Preschoolers When Used to Address Childhood Obesity demonstrates a unique yet developmentally appropriate interventional approach to addressing the issue of childhood overweight and obesity. The article by Geer and associates Increasing Patient Attendance in a Pediatric Obesity Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project describes the process and findings of a quality improvement project designed to improve obesity clinic attendance. As the range of titles of publications demonstrate, nurse and interdisciplinary researchers are actively investigating
Editorial this public health problem affecting children to better understand the phenomenon and to develop, implement and test intervention models to effectively treat childhood overweight and obesity. The reader is directed to this issue's research column by Dr. Becky Christian entitled Translational Research—Focusing on Overweight and Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence to Improve Health. In this column, Dr. Christian examines the translational and evidence-based implications of the studies reported in this issue. Cecily L. Betz PhD, RN, FAAN Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected]
References American Heart Association (2013). Why diabetes matters. Freedman, D. S., Mei, Z., Srinvasan, S. R., Berenson, G. S., & Dietz, W. H. (2007). Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: The Bogalusa Heart Study. Journal of Pediatrics, 150, 12–17. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Curtin, L. R., Lamb, M. M., & Flegal, K. M. (2010). Prevalence of high body mass in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. Journal of the American Medical Association, 303, 242–249. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311, 806–814. Reilly, J. J., & Kelly, J. (2011). Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: Systematic review. International Journal of Obesity, 35, 891–898.
EDITORIAL Special Issue on Childhood Overweight and Obesity Childhood overweight and obesity has become a national health crisis of immense magnitude. The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has increased more than threefold for school-age children and adolescents since 1980 (Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010). Illustrative of the enormity of this health crisis, 34% of school-age children are overweight and 18% are obese (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal,). The potential consequences of childhood overweight and obesity have far reaching consequences upon the health status of future generations of adults that include type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal, pulmonary, cardiovascular and psychosocial problems (American Heart Association, 2013; Freedman, Mei, Srinvasan, Berenson, & Dietz, 2007; Reilly & Kelly, 2011). The ten articles on the topic of childhood overweight and obesity of this special issue represent a diverse range of subjects undertaken by the research and authoring teams of these articles. Several of these articles have directly investigated the perspective of the children and adolescents themselves as it pertains to intervention approaches and their perceptions of their overweight and obese status. Dr. Lyles' study How Adolescents Boys Perceive Their Bodies, Body Parts and Weight: Letting Adolescent Boys' Voices Be Heard enlarges our understanding of the self-perceptions of this age group of boys who have weight problems. These findings provide additional context for incorporating intervention techniques into weight management frameworks of care. The findings of the article The Relationship of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2014.09.010 0882-5963/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Obesity and Weight Gain to Childhood Teasing, by the authoring team led by Feeg, demonstrate the social consequences of teasing upon children who are overweight and obese. The pilot study conducted by Collins and Champion, Assessment of Mobile Device and SMS Use for Diet and Exercise Information Among Rural MexicanAmerican Adolescents, explored Mexican American adolescents' perspectives with the use this intervention method to disseminate diet and exercise information. The adolescents' responses provide perspectives that can be integrated into this adolescent-friendly methodology. Other studies published in this issue explore the complex relationship of biopsychosocial factors with childhood overweight and obesity. The article Demographic, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Variables Associated with Overweight and Obesity in Low-Active Girls conveys the findings of the study conducted by research team led by Vanden Bosch that examined an array of variables associated with body mass index. As reported, differences are found between students who are and are not overweight and obese as associated with the variables studied. A secondary analysis of Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data is reported in the article by Fan, Jin, and Khuchandani, Overweight Misperception among Adolescents in the United States. The findings reveal specific discrepancies between perceptions and reported overweight statistics related to gender and race. Two studies explored the role and involvement of caregivers and providers with children who are overweight and obese. Tipton's study Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Caregiver's Intention to Serve Sugar Sweetened Beverages to Non-Hispanic Black Preschoolers, explored caregivers' intention to provide high caloric
492 beverages to non-Hispanic black preschoolers. The findings of this study based on the Theory of Planned Behavior provide insights as to the factors that influence caregivers' intention. The research team led by Dr. Aldrich explored the weight management practices employed by school-based providers who care for children in school settings who are overweight and obese as reported in the article School-Based Health Center Providers' Treatment of Overweight Children. This community-based study offers insights about child-oriented providers who live and work with children in this naturalistic setting that is vital to the lives of children. Three articles address intervention models that demonstrate promise in working with children who are overweight and obese. The review conducted by authors Falvery, Marvicsin, and Danford, entitled An Integrative Review of Sleep Interventions and Related Clinical Implications for Obesity Treatment in Children, identified the sleep interventions that may serve as preventive approaches for childhood overweight and obesity. Dr. LaSala's study as reported in the Effectiveness of a Child's Fable on the Cognition of Preschoolers When Used to Address Childhood Obesity demonstrates a unique yet developmentally appropriate interventional approach to addressing the issue of childhood overweight and obesity. The article by Geer and associates Increasing Patient Attendance in a Pediatric Obesity Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project describes the process and findings of a quality improvement project designed to improve obesity clinic attendance. As the range of titles of publications demonstrate, nurse and interdisciplinary researchers are actively investigating
Editorial this public health problem affecting children to better understand the phenomenon and to develop, implement and test intervention models to effectively treat childhood overweight and obesity. The reader is directed to this issue's research column by Dr. Becky Christian entitled Translational Research—Focusing on Overweight and Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence to Improve Health. In this column, Dr. Christian examines the translational and evidence-based implications of the studies reported in this issue. Cecily L. Betz PhD, RN, FAAN Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected]
References American Heart Association (2013). Why diabetes matters. Freedman, D. S., Mei, Z., Srinvasan, S. R., Berenson, G. S., & Dietz, W. H. (2007). Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: The Bogalusa Heart Study. Journal of Pediatrics, 150, 12–17. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Curtin, L. R., Lamb, M. M., & Flegal, K. M. (2010). Prevalence of high body mass in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. Journal of the American Medical Association, 303, 242–249. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311, 806–814. Reilly, J. J., & Kelly, J. (2011). Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: Systematic review. International Journal of Obesity, 35, 891–898.
