EBP Population Health in Florida Childhood Obesity in Hispanic Population

EBP Population Health - Childhood Obesity among the Hispanic population living in Florida

Abstract

There is higher childhood obesity across the age ranges among Latino children compared to their white and Asian counterparts. Available data shows that Latino children have a 19% higher obesity rate than their white counterparts, who are at 11.8%, and Asian peers, who stand at 7.3%. It also turns out that the rate among Latino children is higher than the national average. They are only second to black children in the obesity rate. Black children stand at 22.2%. It is not uncommon to witness food swamps and junk food in Latino neighborhoods. It has been observed that fast food joints are, by far, more than markets for farmers and supermarkets. There is rampant discrimination against Latinos, apart from limited access to space for recreation and junk food marketing. The disparities in obesity rates among Latino children emanate from years of discriminatory policies and systems which have existed for a long time. Obesity has shown harmful and even fatal associations during childhood. These associations increase the rate of morbidity in various ways, including the heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and the incidence of diabetes. The program to prevent the incidence of Obesity in childhood intends to lead the member- countries on what they need to do to overcome the menace by adopting the recommendations provided by the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. The plan is mindful that any effort to stop diabetes is based on and could be infused into the existing policies across the globe and domains. The plan conforms to the Heavy people 2020\\\\\\\'s four primary goals.

Introduction

Latinos have been noted as one of the fastest-growing populations. The community currently constitutes over 22% of the total children below 18 years in the US. Of the population of Latino children, over 45% are overweight or obese. Overweight children of white descent constitute 25%. Childhood obesity is complicated. When a child\\\\\\\'s weight is above the normal weight of children of their weight and height category, it is noted. The triggers of an excess weight gain are the same across the age brackets. It has been noted that one\\\\\\\'s community background significantly influences obesity because such a background influences the choices they make (CDC, 2016). The United States faces a serious problem concerning childhood obesity. Both children and adolescents stand a great risk of poor health because of Obesity. The prevalence of Obesity among the mentioned age categories remains way too high. It was noted that obesity prevalence among children in the 2-19 age brackets stood at 13.7% million. The prevalence stood at 13.9% among children ages 2 to 5 years. Obesity prevalence stood at 18.4% among children aged 6 to 11 years. It stood at 20.6 % among children aged between 12 and 19 years. There is a higher prevalence of childhood obesity among certain communities. Hispanics report a prevalence rate of 25.8%, and blacks of non-Hispanic origin report at 22% prevalence higher than non-Hispanic whites who report a 14.1 % prevalence. Asians of non-Hispanic origin, at 11.0% and demonstrated a lower prevalence of Obesity compared to Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks (Hales et al., 2017).

PICOT Question

How do the weight and other health-related issues (O) for children aged 2-19 years (P) participating in a dietary and physical education and exercise program (I) compare to non-participants (C) over three years (T)?

Culture and child obesity

Obesity among children is high among members of the Hispanic community because healthcare is not easily accessible. Food swamps and poverty levels are alarmingly high. The incidence of other but related health ailments is also just as high. However, the Latino population has the capacity needed to overcome these health challenges (Gonzalez, 2016). The number of Latinos is ever increasing. The high chance of developing Obesity means a greater risk of diabetes and cancer.

It is also noteworthy that the diabetes-incidence is inversely proportional to the level of education and that of the head of the household among adolescents and children aged 2 to 19 years. The prevalence of Obesity stands at 18.9% among children and adolescent youths aged from 2 to 19 years in the lowest economic group. The prevalence stands at 19.9 % for those in the middle-income class. Those in the highest income groups show a prevalence rate of 10.9%. The prevalence of Obesity is lowest among those in the highest income groups of the non-Hispanic Asians and boys of Hispanic origin. The prevalence of Obesity is notably high among those in the highest income group of non-Hispanic white people, Hispanic girls, and non-Hispanic Asians (Ogden et al., 2018). The prevalence of Obesity does not differ income-wise among black girls of non-Hispanic origin

Consequences of childhood obesity

Obesity has shown deleterious links in adolescence and childhood, which increase morbidity and raise the chance of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. When cardiovascular disease factors with links to Obesity in children are clustered, the highest blame is apportioned to dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension and inflammation, predicting the onset of cardiovascular disease among adults. Furthermore, Obesity in childhood is linked to fatty liver, orthopedic complications, asthma, chronic kidney ailment, hyperandrogenism of the ovary, and obstructive sleep apnea (Caprio et al., 2008). From the child\\\\\\\'s standpoint, a significant effect of Obesity could be psychosocial, such as being isolated, a performance-decline in school, and a diminished image of the self.

It is also evident that Obesity in childhood can reliably predict the occurrence of the disease in adulthood. According to the study by Bogalusa, which tracked a sample of 2400 children aged from 5 years to 14 for 17 years on average, black children who were obese stood a higher chance of remaining obese in adulthood, with figures predicting such an eventuality to stand at 83% compared to white children whose likelihood to remain obese stood at 68% (Freedman et al., 2005). The relation between Obesity and the development of type 2 diabetes is disproportionate among Native American, African American, and Hispanic adolescents. A search for diabetes in a Youth Population Study discovered that the diabetes proportion in all cases diagnosed as type 2 differed based on ethnicity in people aged between 10 to 19n years. The variation was 6% among non-Hispanic whites and 22% among Hispanics. The figures were 40% for Pacific Islander/Asians, 76% for Native Americans, and 33% for African Americans (SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group, et al., 2006).

Although diabetes type 2 among adolescents is low, it is on the rise in some ethnic and racial groups. Among Pima Indians, 2,2% of people aged 10 to 14 and 5% of those aged 15 to 19 were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the 1990s. These figures increased from zero in the earlier group and 1% in the older set 20 years before. Impaired glucose for fasting is a risk for diabetes type 2 and was noted in 13% of Mexican American origin adolescents. It was also noted among 7% of the white adolescents of non-Hispanic origin. The fasting glucose was noted in 4% of black adolescents of non-Hispanic origin in the NHANES of 1999 to 2002(Kelsey et al.,2014). Obese youth tend to show a higher prevalence of hypertension with no apparent ethnic disparities when there is controlled data for Obesity. The occurrence of dyslipidemia also increases with Obesity among the youth. Triglycerides are notably high in Mexican Americans with Obesity. It is lowest among children of African American descent. The level of HDL cholesterol is inversely proportional to triglyceride.

Disorders of the liver in obese youth range from steatosis, cirrhosis to steatohepatitis. Obese boys show fatty liver more commonly compared to obese girls. This difference also varies significantly by race and ethnicity. In one study featuring obese children aged 2 to 19, there was fatty liver disease in 50% of Hispanics, 10 % of blacks, and 35% of whites. In children, Obesity is linked with a poor quality of life, although there are race differences. A strong negative outcome is observed across the racial and ethnic spectrum though and thwarts any likely racial and ethnic variations. National healthcare spending is said to increase by $149 million every year because of the incidence of Obesity. Premature deaths are largely caused by unhealthy eating in the US.

Prevalence of Childhood obesity

Obesity prevalence among the youth in the US stood at 18.5% between 2015 and 2016. Generally, the incidence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 was 20.6%, 18.4% for children aged 11. The latter figure was higher than that of preschool children aged 2 to 5 years at 13.9%. Boys of school-going age showed a higher prevalence at 20.6%, which was greater than that of preschool boys. The figure stood at 20.9% for adolescent girls who showed a higher prevalence rate of Obesity than preschool girls, at 13.5% (Hales et al., 2017). There was no notable difference in the obesity prevalence based on age.

Figure 1: Prevalence of Obesity among youth aged 2–19 years, by sex and age: the United States, 2015–2016 (adopted from Hales, et al., 2017)

Obesity rates among blacks of non-Hispanic origin were at 22%, while Hispanic youth was 25.8%. The latter was relatively higher than both non-Hispanic youth and Asian youth, which stood at 14.1 and 11.0%. There were no notable differences in obesity prevalence between non-Hispanic Asians and non-Hispanic black youth or between blacks of non-Hispanic origin and non-Hispanic youth. There was a similar pattern to that of the youth among girls. Obesity prevalence stood at 25.1% in blacks of non-Hispanic origin. It was 23.6% in the Hispanic population, 10% in Asian girls with non-Hispanic roots, and 13.5% of non-Hispanic whites (Hales et al., 2017). There was a similarity between the boys\\\\\\\' trends and the trends among all the youth part from boys of Hispanic origin who stood at 28% with a relatively higher obesity prevalence than boys with non-Hispanic roots at 19.0%.

Preventing Childhood Obesity with a health strategy

Aim and scope

The scheme seeks to guide all stakeholders on implementing the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity recommendations. The plan is conscious that to end the worrying trend of Obesity among children, existing policies and programs need to be harmonized with new initiatives across all levels.

Approaches for population-based obesity prevention

Government plays a central role in preventing Obesity by way of structural policy development, which is the first important policy. This spans funding, legal frameworks, disease monitoring, workforce capacity, partnerships, and leadership. The second aspect is policies that cut across population programs. These include initiatives that support the use of healthy diets and physical exercise. Some of the most cited policies affecting the physical activity and have been noted as effective include interventions that target the built environment, i.e., policies that reduce physical activity impediments (World Health Organization, 2018). The world health organization highlights physical activity and diet as the most effective ways of dealing with the risk of Obesity (Simmet&Stroebele-Benschop, 2019).

The third element has to do with community interventions. They are applied across various settings and adapted to the local settings for use. Strong community involvement is one of the best ways of running community-based interventions. Community interventions have shown greater success rates compared to other approaches. They work well when they cut across settings, i.e., schools, childcare settings, and community. Still, single element interventions may constitute a critical part of stepwise strategies to prevent the spread of Obesity (World Health Organization, 2018). The program proposed in this study targets societal intervention with healthy eating and physical activity to prevent the increase in obesity among children and adolescent youth (Innella& Jameson, 2020). Recommended food intervention policies include:

· Regulation of foods and beverages to ensure acceptable nutrient standards are observed

· Expand access to markets with fresh foods

· Encourage healthy foods to retain store startups in low-income areas

· Expand bicycle and pedestrian lanes and roots

· Expand care programs for after school pursuits

(Fournier, Kushner &Raine, 2019; Raine Kim et al., 2018):