Childhood Obesity Prevention and Management in Australia: A Report

This report delves into the critical issue of childhood obesity and overweight within childcare facilities, particularly in Australia. It examines demographic characteristics like gender, age, race, education, income, and ethnicity, revealing that a significant percentage of children are affected. The report explores the etiology and epidemiology of obesity, highlighting the roles of diet, genetics, endocrine disorders, activity levels, psychological factors, and socioeconomic status. It emphasizes the importance of educating stakeholders, including children, educators, families, and the community, on prevention and management strategies. The intervention strategies discussed include personal choices, nutritional meal plans, physical activities, and social changes. The report provides a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to childhood obesity and offers practical recommendations for intervention and management within childcare settings and the broader community, aiming to address this growing public health concern.

Running head: DISEASE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 1
Disease Prevention and Management
Name
Institution

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Childhood Obesity and Overweight
A childcare facility is a structure or building used for supervision, looking after and
taking care of a child or children with main focus on the development of the child, either on their
mental, psychological or social. Early childhood is a critical time for obesity prevention.
Overweight and obesity are health risks caused by a large quantity of body fat that may affect the
body negatively. Obesity is a problem considered an epidemic worldwide in public health. Teens
and Children of the same sex and age are ruled out to be obese if their body mass index (BMI) is
between 95 to 85 percentiles, to calculate the BMI, a person's weight in kilograms (kgs) is
divided by the square of height in meters. Commonly obesity is caused by the intake of excess
food, genetic predisposition, and lack of physical exercise. Overweight and obese children are
more likely to stay obese into adulthood. (Kanter & Caballero, 2012). An obese and overweight
child is more likely to develop diseases that are noncommunicable at a younger age. Worldwide
obesity is the leading cause of death that is largely preventable, therefore needs high priority to
prevent and manage it in children and adults.
Demographic characteristics of the specific child-care facility and surrounding
community.
Analysis of public health data by demographic characteristics is essential to the reduction
and elimination of health disparities ("Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and
Education Act of (2000 - S. 1880)".Health disparities, in this case, is the differences in health on
obesity and overweight of children in the childcare facility in Australia, disease epidemiology,
symptoms of obesity, obesity mortality and on prevention and management in the community
and childcare facility. Our demographic characteristics at the childcare facility and surround

DISEASE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 3
community on overweight and obesity in children included, gender, age, race, educational
attainment of the stakeholders, income status, ethnicity, and geographical area.
The main outcome measure was children overweight and obesity, the study found out that
18% of children between 2–19 years old in childcare facilities in Australia are obese or
overweight. Weight gain was also associated with birth weights it was noted that children
between 2-5 years were either obese or overweight as an outcome of birth weight. It was noted
that boys between 4-5 years were more likely to be obese if they had low birth weight than girls
of the same age with low birth weights. High birth weight was associated with a high risk of
overweight and obesity in both girls and boys even after introducing healthier diets and physical
activities to them. It was also noted that many mothers do not breastfeed their babies exclusively
until they reach the right age, instead, they prefer giving them formula milk which may contain
added sugar and this leads to weight gain in children at a very tender age.
Ethnicity was also found to be a leading cause of overweight and childhood obesity.
Children born in rural areas are weighing more than children born in major cities and towns,
children for different nationality but reside in that community are at a very higher risk to develop
childhood obesity as compared to those who belong to that nation. Children from poor home
with lower income are in a position of becoming obese and overweight for children from higher-
income families. Children whose families face low income eat more energy-dense foods and
fewer vegetables, fruits leading to higher obesity rates.
Children whose parents and caregivers are educated up to tertiary levels are at a lower
risk of becoming overweight and obese than those whose parents didn't get a good education,
this is because at school students are taught on proper nutritional health diet and pros and cons of
eating high caloric foods, cultural norms may vary in feeding practices and this also leads to

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gaining weight. Children who come from a richer home where their mother is a housewife and
father is rich and can provide all their needs also have a very high chance of being overweight
than those whose both parents have to work all day long for them to be comfortable this is
because mother who is full time at home uses most their time in the kitchen preparing snacks like
bread, and cakes which have sugar content and are caloric for their children.
Lifestyle also can lead to children overweight or obesity. Children who spend more time
on video games and television are more likely to be overweight than those who watch less and
don't play video games. Children should use most of their time on physical activities to reduce
and manage overweight and obesity.
Socioeconomic status of the childcare facilities like schools also came up as a
demographic characteristic of childhood obesity and overweight. It was discovered that children
going to disadvantaged school were more prone for children to be overweight or obese than
children attending advantaged schools, this was because children in disadvantaged school cannot
afford a proper healthy diet and they lack enough space for physical activities.
Etiology and epidemiology of overweight and obesity in the target group
Several cases of weight gain or obesity are caused by diet, endocrine disorders like
kidney and heart diseases which cause the patient retain water in the body, genes, medications
that make it impossible for the body to digest sugar because of insulin resistance, socioeconomic
factors, psychological and physical health.
Diet
Much high junk and sweetened food stimulate reward centre in the brain. (Volkow, Wang
& Baler, 2010) Susceptible individuals can have cravings or addiction for junk foods which are

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often compared to abused drugs like cocaine, cannabis, alcohol, and nicotine. When one
becomes an addict to something the brain starts controlling them since they have lost their
freedom of choice Weight gain is greatly contributed by the consumption of more calories than
they burn through activity. Body hormones, as well as biochemistry, can be changed because of
the consumption of excess sugar through added sugar in meals and beverages. Added sugar is
half fructose and half glucose, a person gets glucose from a different type of foods they consume
like carbohydrates. Glucose intake the body promotes satiety, unlike excess fructose. Excess
fructose can cause insulin resistance and elevated insulin level. As the public health officers, we
had to educate the childcare facility stakeholders and community about healthy eating,
nutritional choices for children and themselves because children develop taste preferences either
by mimicking their caregivers who may be someone other than their parents. large food portion
sizes and high caloric foods cause energy imbalance which leads to obesity in children and
adults.
Genes
Children born by obese parents are more likely to become obese than children from lean
parents. Obesity has a very strong genetic component but it does not mean one has to become
obese of overweight just because the parents are overweight. one can overcome his genetic
disadvantages by partaking in physical activities regularly and healthier eating.
Endocrine Disorders and Medical Causes
A very small percentage of people gain unintentional weight and obesity through medical
causes because the endocrine system manages the body's digestion and metabolism, allowing the
body to use up the discard elements that you ingest. (p1 & Fx, 2003) Endocrine disorder results

DISEASE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 6
due to hormone imbalance which is a result of the gland producing too much or too little of an
endocrine hormone. Some antidepressants medications, notably steroids, hypertension drugs, and
seizure medications may increase unintentional body weight. Some medical causes of obesity are
depression, where some people with depression tend to overeat and this causes them to gain a lot
of body weight. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced in excess by the adrenal glands, located
on top of each kidney; it leads to a build-up of fat in characteristic sites such as the face, upper
back, and abdomen. Hypothyroid and hyperthyroidism are the malfunctions of the thyroid gland.
Hypothyroidism is when the body is unable to produce thyroids hormones, making it difficult for
the body to process foods ingested and distribute nutrients in the body.
Activity Level and Physical Health
The stakeholders are advised to increase playing and exercise time for the children and
create playing room for them to play and jump around to use the excess body fats. The
stakeholders were advised to keep off television from the children's sleeping area and also
minimize the watching activity because it reduces the time spent in physical activities and while
watching the television and playing video games they see most commercial advertisements that
advertise sweetened snacks and beverages, this leads to the children mimicking what they see on
television.
Psychological Factors
Depression may be a cause or an outcome of obesity. Low self-esteem in children also
has been discovered to lead to obesity. Children get low self-esteem from other children in the
society who bully or are well off in status more than them.
Socioeconomic Status

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Children from higher socioeconomic status in lower-income states are more like to be
obese than those with higher socioeconomic status in high-income states however this trend does
not apply at all socioeconomic status or in all races.
Justification of stakeholder group selection
This section justifies how children, educators, families, and communities would play a
very important role in addressing the issue of obesity. Children within the childcare facility
would be justified by the fact that they are prone to it. They are the subject matter within this
context, and therefore, they ought to be included within the frameworks of obesity. Educators are
responsible for ensuring that adequate information is availed concerning obesity questions. They
are individuals who are with the children most of the time, and for that reason, they are in better
positions of undertaking various endeavours. Such courses of action comprise controlling and
monitoring what the children are eating. It would be feasible for the educators to exhibit foods
that need to be taken by the children, those that would not facilitate obesity. Besides, they could
offer parents with necessary information regarding what needs to be consumed by the children.
Families take a critical part in the matter of bringing the children up, and thus, they need
to make sure that what they provide to their children does not lead to obesity. Instead of buying
junk and processed foods in supermarkets, they need to cook healthy food for their children.
Families are justified to be part of the discussion on matters on obesity among children because
they stay with them most of the time. There is a need for the families to monitor what their
children are taking and advice them accordingly.
The community is justified because it is the one that establishes ethnic rules that need to
be followed. It is, therefore, imperative to engage it in a matter of obesity. Such would be made

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possible through conducting workshops and seminars to educate the society on the best courses
of action that need to be formulated and executed to deal with obesity issues.
Description of the intervention
The intervention included educating the stakeholders and children in the childcare facility
on obesity and overweight prevention and management since obesity has become a national
crisis for children and adults owing to parents' and caregivers' ability to influence their children's
physical activities and eating habits. Obesity can be prevented and managed through personal
choices, physical activities or exercise, medication, social changes.
Personal Choices
The stakeholders and children were educated on the right nutritional meal plans which
would be suitable for everyone in the family and also how to reduce meal portions and have a
meal time table so that all members of the family can have a meal at the right time. A cook-off
lesson was also set to demonstrate how to prepare healthy meals. Increase dietary fiber in their
meal plan and reduce added salt and foods containing saturated fats in their meals and avoid
sweetened snacks and beverages and, junk foods. This is their choice to make and be self-
disciplined.
Physical activities and Exercise
This is very important along with a suitable diet. The stakeholders were asked to
introduce physical activities for children in the timetable for their kids. They were asked to
ensure time for watching televisions and video games for children have been minimized to allow
the children to partake in physical activities like sports, walking, cycling for transport,
housework, and gardening have a positive health impact in reducing body fat and the likelihood

DISEASE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 9
of gaining weight. Television and video games make them sit around in one place and also
televisions shouldn't be in their sleeping areas to allow them to take enough rest as required for
the body to function properly.
Medications
Medications to decrease fat absorption and reduce appetite alongside the right diet and
physical activity can be used. These medicines suppress the appetite and make a person feel
almost full and take in very small portions of food and therefore excess calories and fats to be
deposited in the body.
Screening and Body Mass Index (BMI)
Most people are not aware that they are obese and therefore the stakeholders were
advised to get screening more often to determine the BMI that is the measure to determine
childhood overweight and obesity where BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in
kilogram by the square of height by meters. The body mass index of a child varies from that of
an adult since children‘s body composition varies between boys and girls because they are still
growing and the height and weight changes each passing day as they grow, and therefore the
Body mass index among children need to be measured relative to other children of the same sex
and age. (EP, SB, R, PR & SA, 2010).
Campaign Against Aggressive Marketing
It was noted that most advertisements on social media and television were on junk,
sweetened food and are not healthy for human consumption. The stakeholders suggested they
should campaign against those adverts by an increment of advertisement cost and increase of tax

DISEASE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 10
on such foods and beverages. It was also suggested that tax be reduced on healthy foods so that
people from low-income society can afford them.
Surgery
This should be the last option if diet, exercise, and medicine have failed to manage and
reduce obesity in children because if a child is overweight and obese they are more likely to be
obese when they are grown, Surgery to reduce the intestines and stomach volume may be
performed or a gastric balloon, this will help one to fill full at all time and reduce the ability to
absorb nutrients from foods.
Social Changes
It has been proven that an increase in prices and tax of a product reduces its consumption.
The government should come in to help in the prevention and management of overweight and
obesity by increasing tax and prices of foods and products that can cause obesity in children and
adults like sugar, salt, and harmful sweetened products in the market. Tax for healthy foodstuff
should be reduced and prices also to go down to enable all people to access a healthy diet in their
homes and schools. Some people said they preferred junk foods because it‘s cheap and ready to
eat but they all promised to change to healthy diets.
Outline of the communication strategy
As the public health officers at the childcare facility, our main goal was to create
awareness and educate the stakeholders on overweight and obesity and on how to prevent and
manage it in children. We discussed with the management and came up with three
communication strategies to use, which are verbal communication visual and nonverbal
communication to reach to everyone.

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The childcare management called for an open meeting with the stakeholders where we
educated them verbally and discussed on our findings on overweight and obesity in children we
later held an open discussion with them where we realized that most people don't know what
exactly causes obesity in children and ways to prevent and manage it. At the end of it, we all
came up with the best nutritional meal plan for the children at home and schools, which was a
success since the parents were so eager to know what to give their children and on how to
measure the food portions for them. We gave them some journals on meal planning portions
which shows the right time for every meal and beverage, which has pictures and procedures on
how to make the right food and drinks look appetizing to children to take without any added
sugar and flavors.
As public health officers, we also showed the stakeholders videos, charts, pictures and
diagrams of obese children and the diseases they are likely to contact due to obesity and the
nonverbal and visual communication was very effective since they were able to understand more
on overweight and obesity diseases and their preventing and management. They also came to
understand that some medications can lead to overweight and obesity. At the end of the session,
we all came up with solutions to the problem.
Outline of the evaluation framework
The importance of this framework is to provide a strategic direction to the stakeholders,
children and the community at large on childhood overweight or obesity management and
prevention. Obesity is considered a global epidemic with a worldwide prevalence tripling
between 1975 and 2016 with increases seen in all age groups (WHO Fact sheet, reviewed Feb.
2018). For this program to be a success we had to come up with a plan to include the childcare
facility stakeholders and the children.

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Understanding the stakeholders
The evaluation was conducted by public health officers. As the public health officers, we
had to understand the childcare facility stakeholders first, we had run a background checkup with
the childcare management, knew what type of meals most of them give their children and their
lifestyle. That's when the management arranged an open meeting with all the stakeholders for
them to come in and confirm our findings and be educated on how to prevent and manage
overweight and obesity. we discovered that some of them are working parents and don't have
enough time to monitor their children at home and that newborn babies are not breastfed
exclusively over the required period.
Participants
We conducted a random sample of children from different age group, gender, social,
physically active and ethnicity groups and did a background check up on them then measured
their Body mass index and it was noted that a good number of them were overweight or obese
and this encouraged almost everyone have a checkup and their BMI measured. Major outcome
measures include pre-post changes in child body mass index percentile and z score, fruit and
vegetable and other nutritious food intakes, amount of physical activity, and parental nutrition
and physical activity knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, defined by intentions and behaviours.
(Natale et al., 2013)
Evaluating the findings
We later on evaluated the findings and then allowed the stakeholders to participate in
analyzing them. Public health officers emphasized of change of diet to a healthy nutritional diet