Childhood obesity and traditional foods in Malta: a nurse's reflection

Nurse Reflection

Experience Reflection Using John's Model of Reflection

Description

The event was relatively straightforward, though ultimately still profound, with a standard healthcare office (a nurse's office, specifically) providing the setting for the interview. Girls aged about thirteen years old were the subjects of the interviews in this study; they arrived with a parent (almost exclusively the mother), and were interviewed privately so as to obtain greater levels of honesty in the responses. As the girls were being questioned regarding their eating habits at home, and thus specifically the food that they were given by their parents (again almost exclusively their mothers, as learned during the interviews), it was thought that interviews taking place n front of the mothers would yield less accurate and truthful results, and thus lead to a mis-identification of real concerns. Most of the respondents seemed slightly shy but very willing to answer the questions, and all clearly understood the terms of the study and its confidentiality and readily agreed to answer the questions given. Many seemed slightly embarrassed when they acknowledged leading what they vaguely knew to be an unhealthy lifestyle in terms of eating and exercising, but none seemed truly concerned about the long-term implications of these lifestyles and it also seemed clear that while they know their diets were "bad" they didn't know the specific negative outcomes that obesity is associated with.

Reflections

The obesity problem facing much of the world's population, including many of the world's children, is often associated with a rise in the availability of processed foods. It was very interesting in my experience to see how the parents and children of Malta used traditional foods in a way that still led to increases in obesity rates and levels among the children of the country. It was very enlightening, though not in an entirely positive way, to experience first-hand the manner in which traditional foods could be so lacking in nutrition, and how when mixed with sedentary lifestyles they lead to the same obesity problems seen in other countries where packaged foods are now the norm. It was also very interesting to discuss these issues directly with the girls whose health and nutrition were at stake, to develop an unmediated understanding of how they viewed food and activity and its impact on their lives and health, and the attitudes that they were picking up from their parents. Understanding how eating habits were formed and developed, not simply in the external sense of familial eating habits but in terms of the unseen lessons about food that these girls were picking up from the food they were given at home, was a very important part of this experience that led to a larger epiphany of understanding health issues and their relation to familial/cultural issues.

Room for Improvement

Though the interviews were successful and I generally feel pretty good about the experience, there are definitely things I could have done to improve the overall experience and the quality of the information gathered/conclusions reached as a part of this research study. A better initial awareness of my own subjectivities and preconceived notions would have allowed me to create a more comfortable setting during the asking of questions; though I of course did not consciously do or say anything that would be considered judgmental that would have guided, prompted, or otherwise tainted the responses from the interviewees, it is possible that I gave subconscious cues regarding certain trends, behavioral patterns, etc., that could have made the research less accurate. Analysis is also made more difficult by these personal and cultural subjectivities, and though I believe this was appropriately controlled for in the methodology utilized it still could have been improved upon by my taking greater care when it came to understanding and even simply acknowledging the subjective position from which I approached the experience. I also could have shown greater understanding towards the parents (mothers) of the research respondents, creating a greater sense of comfort and emphasizing the non-judgmental nature of the research so as to create a better environment for the free and honest exchange of information.

Learning

Especially with this opportunity to reflect on the experience, these interview sessions and the overall process of conducting this research has led to a great deal of learning on my part. In the concrete areas of health and nutrition, I have come to a much better understanding of how poor dietary and activity habits are formed and encouraged in families, and thus have obtained new ideas on how such problems might be realistically and directly combated. Many programs that address childhood obesity seem to lack true relevance to the populations they are targeted towards, and some of the knowledge I have obtained during this experience could be used to correct this in the Maltese population, if not in broader populations as well. In the more abstract sense, though also in a more profound and potentially the more far-reaching and ultimately practical sense, I have learned a great deal about myself and the manner in which I perceive others and the manner in which others perceive me and themselves. That is, interviewing the girls and reflecting on the experience led me to understand my own subjectivities and how they influence truly everything I do, and it also helped me gain an understanding of how behaviors and perceptions regarding health are formed, and how these formations influence interactions with healthcare workers.