The Impact of Childhood Obesity on Health in London

Key areas:

Obesity is a complex health condition in which heavy amount of fats are accumulated inside the body thereby enhancing the body weight. people are considered to have obesity when their body mass index (BMI) [weight/square of persons height) is higher than 30 kg/m. This research paper is going to discuss the impact of obesity on children’s health in London with determining how the mental, psychological, emotional and spiritual health and wellbeing of children (5-11 years) are adversely affected by obesity. in this research paper the researcher will determine reasons behind why children of 5 – 11 years in London are highly prevalent to obesity as well as overweight as compared to children residing in rest of the country.

Finally, the research paper will discuss effective strategies as well as healthcare measures that need to be taken for eliminating the harmful implication of obesity on mental and physical health of children in London.

Background and rationale:

Rate of childhood obesity in London is higher than rest of the UK. evidence based report have shown that in London, children belonging to the age group 5 – 11 years, are highly prevalent as well as vulnerable to obesity and overweight (www.standard.co.uk, 2020). In London the overall rate of obesity in children who just have left their primary school is one out of five children. it is evident that, in eight London Boroughs, there are more than one fourth children of 11 years are affected by obesity as well as overweight. In London boroughs such as Westminster and Southwark, majority of children belonging to age group 5- 10 years are highly vulnerable to obesity. From UK National Child Measurement Programme data, it has been stated that, nearly 19.8 % children of 10-11 years have risk of adiposity which is the main reason behind cardio-vascular diseases and heart stroke. from medical evidences it can be stated that, children with obesity as well as overweight is highly prevalent to heart stroke, cardiac arrest and respiratory issues (Cauchi et al. 2016). In London majority of the children with obesity suffering not only from physical issues such as pulmonary illness, COPD, cardio-vascular disease and heart stroke, but also from poor and distressed psychological, emotional and spiritual distress (Pineda et al. 2019). It is evident from report of Public Health England (PHE) that, London has higher number of cases of childhood depression, anxiety, psychological distress and poor self-confidence that are considered to be strongly related to overweigh and obesity. From health report of PHE it is shown that, majority of London Boroughs has shown higher prevalence of chronic health condition in children of 5 -11 years due to ever-increasing number of obesity and overweight than boroughs in England during 2018-19 (www.trustforlondon.org.uk, 2010). Barking and Dagenham borough in London has showing highest rate of children obesity during the year 2018-19. The evidence-based report has suggested that in this borough, majority of children suffering from obesity are highly vulnerable to different chronic health condition such as lung cancer, colon cancer, childhood adiposity, heart related issues, respiratory issues and cardio-vascular disease. medical evidences have suggested that childhood obesity in London leads to the maximum case of pulmonary and coronary arterial disease, due to accumulation of higher amount of body fat into the adipose tissues, arteries and cell walls, that makes the inner diameter of arteries and adipose tissue thin thereby causing potential constraints in blood and oxygen flow.

In this research, researcher is going to highlight the overall health implications of obesity on physical, mental and emotional health of children of 5-11years in London. The rationale behind doing this research is to shed lights on serious health issues associated with childhood obesity in London to make the awareness and concern for promoting healthy food habits as well as heathy lifestyle in children to reduce chances of obesity and overweight. In addition to this, issue of child obesity is a matter of concern in recent years that needs to be mitigated as well as solved by using proper strategies. Through conducting this research, the researcher is going to highlight the serious risk associated with child obesity that are needed to be managed as well as eliminated. Here also the researcher recommends the effective strategies can be used in eliminating the overall health risk associated with this obese condition in children.

Methodology and justification:

In this chapter researcher will depict as well as outline the process in which entire research will be conducted. Here the researcher will discus the research design, research approaches, and research philosophies that are going to be used by the researcher in terms of completing entire research in effective manner to meet research objectives.

Research onion:

By using research onion, researcher will discuss the key stapes that are associated with conducting this research in proper manner. through using research onion, the researcher will depict the strategies, philosophies, choice, approaches, techniques, time horizon and procedure that are important for conducting any research properly with meeting each of its objectives.

Research philosophies:

In terms of conducting this research, the researcher will use interpretivism philosophy with is considered to be highly relevant with research, in terms of assisting the researcher to interpret the underlying meaning of each information collected from secondary resources with proper justification.

Research approach:

Here the researcher will use inductive approach which will be helpful throughout the research in developing new themes based on information collected from the secondary resources

Research design:

here the researcher will select exploratory research design that is considered to be helpful in assisting researcher to explore new themes and model in terms of discussing the topic in effective manner to meet the research objectives

Data collection method:

here the researcher will use secondary data collection methods which is relevant to researching objectives as the secondary sources will assist the study get valuable as well as authentic information to meet research objectives.

Ethical consideration:

In this research study, researcher will ensure to consider as well as follow the ethical obligations that are associated with maintaining authenticity and moral value of the enter research. In this research, the researcher ensures that all the secondary sources that are going to be collected by the researcher in terms of collecting relevant information would be genuine. The researcher will also ensure that, the information collected from secondary resources would be used only in the academic purpose but not for any commercial purpose. The researcher will also take proper consent from the publishers of secondary resources in terms of using the content of these sources in the research study. In addition to this, researcher will also ensure that, all information collected from secondary resources will be used in confidential manner to protect this information from the unauthorised hacking.

Reflections:

By using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, I can evaluate my experiences that I gained throughout this research. In description, I can describe that, during start of the research, I was very shy and introvert that made me to face several difficulties in understanding the actual criteria of research study. Here I faced difficulties in conducting proper discussion as well as interaction with my team members as well as with my lecturers. While describing feelings, I can evaluate my feelings during working on the research project. during the module I felt I had to work more on my professional as well as personal skills to complete the entre research successfully. in the evaluation stage, I can evaluate my good and bad experiences throughout the research. The good experiences are working in team with diverse students, sharing views and knowledge with my team members and lecturers to develop my skill and working in synergistic manner on the research project. My bad experiences throughout the research are, I had faced conflict and misunderstanding with team member regarding setting research objectives and planning for the entire research. By making analysis of experiences that I had gained throughout the research process, I can say that the entire work process in research assisted me to develop my skill and professional abilities. The analysis also assisted me to develop my professional skill and personal abilities that will assist to grab success in professional field. in conclusion, I can conclude that the experiences that I had gained throughout the research study has assisted me to improve my knowledge on conducting any research in effective manner by meeting all its objectives. In the action plan I have enlisted some activities which are important for improving my skills, such as regular writing practice on different academic topics as I have poor writing skill and make strong interaction with with my team members as well as with lecturer in the class which will assist me to develop strong verbal communication.

Reference list:

Cauchi, D., Glonti, K., Petticrew, M. and Knai, C., 2016. Environmental components of childhood obesity prevention interventions: an overview of systematic reviews. Obesity reviews, 17(11), pp.1116-1130.

Dalrymple, K., Martyni-Orenowicz, J., O'Keeffe, M. and Poston, L., 2017. Can obesity in early childhood be influenced by lifestyle interventions during pregnancy? A systematic review of the literature. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(OCE4).

Dalrymple, K.V., Martyni‐Orenowicz, J., Flynn, A.C., Poston, L. and O'Keeffe, M., 2018. Can antenatal diet and lifestyle interventions influence childhood obesity? A systematic review. Maternal & child nutrition, 14(4), p.e12628.

Llewellyn, A., Simmonds, M., Owen, C.G. and Woolacott, N., 2016. Childhood obesity as a predictor of morbidity in adulthood: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity reviews, 17(1), pp.56-67.

Pineda, E., Swinburn, B. and Sassi, F., 2019. Effective school food environment interventions for the prevention of childhood obesity: systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, 394, p.S77.

Sacher, P.M., Kolotourou, M., Poupakis, S., Chadwick, P., Radley, D.I. and Fagg, J., 2018. Addressing childhood obesity in underserved families: outcomes and peer effects of MEND 7–13 when delivered at scale in US communities. International Journal of Obesity, 43, pp.91-102.

Segal, A.B., Huerta, M.C. and Sassi, F., 2019. Understanding the effect of childhood obesity and overweight on educational outcomes: an interdisciplinary secondary analysis of two UK cohorts. The Lancet, 394, p.S84.

Sheldon, T., 2018. Whole city working against childhood obesity. BMJ, 361, p.k2534.

Simmonds, M., Llewellyn, A., Owen, C.G. and Woolacott, N., 2016. Predicting adult obesity from childhood obesity: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity reviews, 17(2), pp.95-107.

Simmonds, M., Llewellyn, A., Owen, C.G. and Woolacott, N., 2017. Diagnosis of childhood obesity using BMI: potential ethicolegal implications and downstream effects: a response. Obes Rev, 18(3), pp.382-383.

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