Systematic Review: Impact of Physical Activity on Obesity in Children

This literature review examines the impact of physical activity on preventing obesity in children, particularly in the UK. It begins with an overview of the increasing rates of childhood obesity and its associated health risks, emphasizing the importance of addressing this issue. The review then delves into the current state of childhood obesity in the UK, highlighting statistics and factors contributing to the problem, such as sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits. It explores the role of physical activity as a key intervention strategy, discussing various ways to promote exercise and its benefits for weight management and overall well-being. The methodology section details the systematic review process, including the databases used, search terms, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and the PRISMA flow diagram for article selection. The review concludes with a discussion of the findings, limitations, and recommendations for future research and interventions, emphasizing the need for increased awareness and promotion of physical activity to combat childhood obesity. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

ABSTRACT
Obesity among children has been found to be critically increasing within recent time,
where over weight has become increasingly one of the major health issue impacting overall well-
being. The recent analysis in research has shed light on in depth systematic review done, by
analyzing impact of obesity among children. Study further has evolved systematic analysis to be
evolving main aspects of the latest findings on impact of obesity and over weight issues among
children. The findings have also shed light on research findings, where they should be further
given proper nutritious diet which is calcium rich to be active in proper weight management.
Study has also further evolved rise, on extended parameters about recent findings in form of
secondary research findings.
There are various factors and specific working parameters, where they should be active in
physical activities and plays for proper weight management aspects for proper healthcare
management significantly. Literature in research has also shed light on new arenas of working
aspects, where increase in fast food practices among children are the main parameters leading to
increase in weight gain and obesity. The over weight issues among children, has to be monitored
and further evolved to be improvised on proper healthcare management. Furthermore, it has
been also identified that recent findings have also showcased essential need to be further evolved
on proper eating habits among children and further motivated to be active in games.

Table of Contents
TOPIC..............................................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1
Topic Overview...........................................................................................................................1
Importance of topic......................................................................................................................2
Aim and objectives......................................................................................................................3
Research Question.......................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................4
Brief background to topic question..............................................................................................4
Presence of obesity in children in UK.........................................................................................4
Impact of obesity in children.......................................................................................................6
Different ways in which obesity can be prevented or reduced in children..................................7
Importance of physical activity on children................................................................................8
Ways in which physical activity can help in preventing obesity in children...............................9
CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................11
Systematic review and its purpose.............................................................................................11
Databases used...........................................................................................................................11
Key words or search terms........................................................................................................11
Detail PICO...............................................................................................................................12
Research type.............................................................................................................................12
Inclusion and Exclusion criteria................................................................................................12
Results included and ways in which filtration of those results were done using PRISM FLOW
DATA FORMAT.......................................................................................................................13
Articles filtered..........................................................................................................................14
Tool that will be used to critique each article............................................................................14
Result table for explanation of each article...............................................................................16
Critique and analysis of each article..........................................................................................18
Conclusion with synopsis of results..........................................................................................20
Discussion of original questions and literature review..............................................................20
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................20

Summary....................................................................................................................................20
Connection between articles and literature review....................................................................21
Elements missing in literature that have been researched so far...............................................21
LIMITATIONS..............................................................................................................................21
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24

TOPIC
Impact of physical activity in preventing obesity in children
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION
Topic Overview
Obesity is one of the main issues in UK especially in Children (Poursafa and et. al., 2018).
This obesity directly affects growth pattern of children. It is one of the main issue among
children and is increasing drastically. In fact, it is said that one in three children comes under
category of overweight or obese children (Brown and et. al., 2019). As per recent statistics
percentage of overweight or obese children is increasing drastically. In last 5 years there was 5
percent increase in obesity in children. Due to this overall health and physical growth of children
is affected drastically. Not only this, it is also said that children living in most deprived areas
were more obese as compared to children living in least deprived areas. Due to this reason, it
becomes important for children as well as their parents to focus upon reducing excess weight in
order to come in category of healthy children.
Obesity in children is a serious problem because it can lead to serious health issues or
problems such as heart problems, diabetes, uneven growth and development of body etc. It is a
serious problem to be focused upon children in UK, this is because UK is one of those countries
in Europe that has highest rate of childhood obesity (Lee and Yoon, 2018). There are various
kinds of reasons because of which obesity in children is increased in UK. One of the main
reasons is more than 40 percent parents do not think that their children come in category of obese
children. Another reason is lifestyle of children, due to advancement in technology most of the
children are engaged in playing games on mobiles, laptops etc. as a result physical activity of
children has reduced drastically. Another reason that has been identified is that today food eating
habits. Today most of the children prefer having fast food or food items that are high in calories
and fats which makes them obese (Amin and et. al., 2018). Due to this year- by- year percentage
of obese children are increasing day by day.
Physical activity is one of the most important things which is required to be focused upon
by children in order to remain healthy and fit and for proper growth and development of children
both physically and mentally (Alman and et. al., 2021). But it is slowly reducing because of
increasing usage of advance technology that has reduced physical activity, availability of
vehicles that has reduced walking etc. of children. According to current statistics, more than 60
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percent of children spend most of their time in front of laptops, computers, television, playing
video games etc. not only this, due to extremely busy lifestyle of parents as well they do not
focus upon increasing physical activity of children and use these technological items as a source
of keeping their children busy so that they can enjoy their own lifestyle as a result overall health
of children is degrading and obesity among children is increasing (Morrisseyand et. al., 2020).
Increasing physical activities for children and indulging them within these physical
activities can directly help in reducing obesity among children. It should be first and the foremost
responsibility of parents to ensure that their children are getting engaged in any kind of physical
activity at least for 60 minutes a day so that they can remain fit and healthy, obesity among them
can reduce and growth and development of children can be improved (Murugesan and et. al.,
2018). There are many different ways in which physical activity among children can be
increased and can further help in preventing obesity in children. According to recent studies
increasing physical activity can be sufficient for prevention of onset of obesity
Importance of topic
Prevention of obesity among children is an important topic to be focused upon this is
because in last 10 years obesity among children is increasing drastically. Due to this at early age
chances of suffering from serious health issues such as diabetes, heart diseases etc. are increasing
for children. Not only this overall physical and mental development of children is also getting
affected. Due to these problems, it has become extremely important to identify ways in which
obesity among children can be controlled (Byrne, LeMay-Russell and Tanofsky-Kraff, 2019).
Physical activity is one of the best ways with the help of which prevalence of obesity among
children can be reduced. The main reason because of which this topic has been chosen is because
today due to busy life style parents do not focus upon engaging their children in any kind of
physical activities because of which prevalence of obesity among children is increasing
(Murugesan and et. al., 2018).
The amin reason because of which this topic is important to be chosen is to reduce
prevalence of obesity among children so that overall physical and mental health development of
children be enhanced and increasing suffering of children from serious diseases can be
controlled. UK is one of those countries of UK that has highest child obesity rate as a result it
further becomes even more important to reduce this rate and it can be done easily by engaging
children in physical activities (Byrne, LeMay-Russell and Tanofsky-Kraff, 2019). This study can
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further help in generating awareness among children and parents so that engagement of children
among activities like playing games, running, walking etc. can be increased. This will not only
help in reducing obesity among children but will further help in controlling prevalence of obesity
among them. Due to this, chosen topic is important and has been selected so that chances of kids
being overweight can be reduced directly.
Aim and objectives
Aim
Main aim of this dissertation is:
To evaluate impact of physical activity in preventing obesity in children in UK
Objectives
Main objectives of this dissertation are as follows:
 To review literature on evaluating prevalence of obesity in Children
 To systematically review impact of physical activity on obesity
 To discuss results of systematic review for understanding impact of physical activity in
preventing obesity in children
Research Question
Main research question focused upon in this dissertation is:
How can physical activity help in preventing Obesity in children in UK?
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CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW
Brief background to topic question
Childhood obesity is one of the main issues of concern in UK because of which overall
physical and mental health and growth of children is affected (Brown and et. al., 2019). As per
current statistics this childhood obesity percentage in UK is increasing year by year because of
which it has become extremely important for to focus upon identifying ways in which obesity in
children can be controlled or prevented. It is important to prevent obesity in children because due
to obesity children can suffer from various kinds of life- threatening diseases at an early age.
Obesity is one of the main issue in UK because most of the parents of obese children are not
even aware of the fact that their children comes under category of obesity or overweight. Many
parents do not even focus upon engaging their children in any kind of games or physical activity
or do not focus upon their diet (Brown and et. al., 2019). Due to which children have high calorie
food, engage in watching television, playing video games etc. As a result, kids are becoming
overweight and their physical as well as mental development is getting affected.
Physical activity is one of the most appropriate intervention that can be focused upon by
children and their parents for preventing obesity among children. Not only this engagement in
physical activity can directly help in proper growth and development of children. There are many
different kinds of physical activities that can directly help children in reducing their weight so
that can come under category of healthy and fit children and this obesity problem in children can
be reduced or prevented in an appropriate and effective manner (Brown and et. al., 2019).
Physical activity can not only help in prevailing obesity in children but can also help in
enhancing overall quality of life of children, enhance their overall physical, mental and
emotional wellbeing in an appropriate and accurate manner. Chances of suffering from disease
such as diabetes etc. can also get reduced. In this literature review previous studies based upon
obesity in children in UK, prevalence of obesity in children through physical activity has been
reviewed.
Presence of obesity in children in UK
According to the view of (World health organization, 2021), obesity is a leading cause that
kills more people as compared to underweight people. It is extremely dangerous for children. As
per recent statistics of WHO it was identified that 39 million children under the age of 5 were
overweight or obese in 2020. This number of obesity among children is increasing year- by year.
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Statistics of presence of obesity in children in UK clearly helps in explaining that majority of
children who are under 5 years of age group are obese which can directly affect overall health of
children.
Figure 1 perveance of obesity in children where girls are represented in pink and boys in Blue
As per the country profile of WHO UK (Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. 2021), it
has been identified that children who are up to 11 years old approximately 18 percent children
are obese out of which 18 percent boys and 17 percent girls comes under overweight children in
UK. Whereas in children who are 11- 13 years old. 11 percent boys were obese and 17 percent
girls were obese. On the other in 13 to 15 years old children, 14 percent boys were obese and
only 12 percent girls came into category of obese children.
As per the view of Hills, Andersen and Byrne, (2011) if last five years statis of obesity in
children is considered then it was observed that in last five years there was 3 percent increment
in obese children. Children of age group 11 to 13 years of age are more obese as compared to
other age group children (Kahathuduwa and et. al., 2019). There were no accurate and prevalent
figures present that can clearly help in understanding prevalence of obesity in children who are
0-9 years of age. This issue of obesity is become a problem or issue of concern due to increasing
lavish lifestyle of children and due to increasing usage of technology.
However, as explained by Lloyd and et. al., (2018) approximately 9.9 percent of children
in UK are of age group 4-5 years of age are obese, whereas further 13.1 percent children in same
age group are overweight. Children age the age group of 10-11 years of approximately 21
percent of children are obese and approximately 14 percent children come under category of
overweight children. Below graph can clearly help in understanding ways in which this statistic
is collected as per national child measurement program children who come under category of
obese and overweight children have been explained below in detailed manner. Below table
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clearly helps in understand number of children who are obese in every thousands of children.
This table cannot only help in gaining understanding of children who are obese but also helps in
understand number of children who are overweight, normal weight and who are underweight. It
is completely clear from these statistics that as compared to underweight children obese and
overweight children are much more.
Impact of obesity in children
According to the view of Lanigan, Tee and Brandreth, (2019) obesity is a complex health
issue in children which is not easy to be understood. Obesity and being overweight can directly
affect children in many different ways. Its impact upon children is in negative manner only that
can not only bring changes in terms of behaviour but it can also bring changes in terms of
genetics, ability of making healthy choices etc. Obesity directly affects or impact behaviour of
children. Consumption and burning of calorie are disturbed and is not reduced or focused upon in
children. It can directly make children lethargic, lazy; their eating habits can change and their
investment on physical activity can get reduced and investment on sedentary activities such as
watching television can increase (Zhang and et. al., 2018). Interest of children in calorie burning
activity can get reduced and it can further affect their growth and development.
As per the view of Brown and et. al., (2019) obesity in children can further affect overall
health of children in many different ways both physically and mentally. Obesity can increase risk
of suffering from life threatening diseases among children such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart
diseases, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and many other kinds of diseases. If a child is
obese in excessive manner, then it can affect their mental health as well because due to this
obesity their self-confidence can get reduce, they can suffer from anxiety and many other serious
mental health issues and might feel ashamed of coming in front of anyone. There are many other
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ways in which obesity in children can affect their physical health. If children suffer from
overweight issue or obesity issue at early age then it can result in increasing joint pain at
extremely early age, breathing issues or problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis etc.
However, as explained by Spinelli and et. al., (2019) there are many underestimated
impacts of obesity because of which overall growth and development of children can get
affected. Such as excess weight can result in deposition of fat on child’s liver that can further
result in damaging liver. Damage to liver can be quite life threatening for children that can not
only reduce life expectancy of children but can also affect overall quality of life. There are may
other ways in which obesity can affect children. Emotional wellbeing of children can get affect
due to obesity and their self-esteem can also get reduced. It has been observed that most of the
obese children are much more emotional as compared to normal or underweight children. They
easily get paranoid, angry, sad or depressed as compared to other normal children and it can
further affect overall expected quality of life of children
Different ways in which obesity can be prevented or reduced in children.
In accordance with the views of Romieu and et.al., (2017) with the enabling of healthy
diet and nutrition along with focusing over the aspect of avoidance of junk food would play a
major role in reducing and controlling obesity among children. As food is one of the aspect that
would lead to directly impact an individual and its health so with the consideration over the food
and nutrition the obesity would be reduced and minimized at an extensive scale among children.
In the same way as junk food is one of the major reason of obesity among children that with the
non-exposure of junk food would lead to have a direct impact over the children in terms of
reduction of obesity. Likewise, as junk food contain a high proportion of calories that would lead
to raise the proportion of fat in body which would ultimately enhance the chances of obesity
among children (Murugesan and et. al., 2018). Thus, by making an avoidance of junk food and
raising an exposure of healthy diet among individual would directly impact an individual in
terms of reduction of obesity.
However, Messing and et.al., (2019) also state that the although food plays an important
role with the concept of obesity but with the exposure of physical activity, obesity would be
reduced at an extensive scale. This means with the development of habit of children with regard
to playing physical activities and games, obesity would be reduced at a high level. As obesity is
one of the disease that is related with the deposition of fat over in the body and when an
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individual get exposure with the physical moves and exercises then it would lead to positively
impact an individual in terms of obesity reduction and getting a healthy life. In the same way it is
also to be noted that when the children get engaged in the physical activities in terms of games
then it would lead to make their development along with reduction of obesity. Here it is also
important to be note that along with getting direct exposure towards the physical activities
teachers in the school would also plays a major role in terms of getting them engaged in games
that would further lead to work in the direction of reduction of obesity.
In the same way Bleich and et.al., (2018) also state that with an exposure of healthy diet,
control over the soft drink and sugary drink along with raising the consumption of more water
would lead to reduce the obesity among children. As getting proper diet is important in the same
way controlling over the sugary diet and raise the consumption of water in daily routine would
have a direct and positive impact towards the health of children. This would work at large in
terms of reduction of obesity among them.
On the other hand, Jaacks and et.al., (2019) also annotates that an avoidance of sedentary
lifestyle and get it physically active would lead to have a positive impact towards the health of
children. As watching TV and get engaged on smartphones would lead to have a negative impact
towards the health and it lead to raise the fat among the children. Thus, it is very important that
the sedentary lifestyle would be avoided and children would allow to get exposed with the
physical activities and games. As with the changing time now a days children instead of moving
to playground and get engaged in games and with their friends they are exposed to TV and
mobile phones. This has been developed as a habit among them that after taking meal they get
engaged in mobile. This has later become a major reason of obesity. Thus, in order to reduce the
impact of obesity, an avoidance of sedentary lifestyle is important aspect.
Importance of physical activity on children
According to the view of An and et. al., (2019) physical activities is one of the most
important thing which is required to be focused upon in children as it can directly help in
bringing improvement within overall fitness level of children can be enhanced. As obesity is one
of the main and most important issue among children so by increasing overall physical activity
of children, obesity issue among them can be controlled in an easy manner. Today due to
advancement in technology, physical activity among children has been reduced as result most of
the children today are living a lethargic lifestyle. This is mainly due to lack of physical activity
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