Childhood and adolescent obesity has increased dramatically. According to NHS report in 2010, around 30 percent of boys and girls, aged 2 to 15 were assigned as either overweight or obese. The most widely accepted definition of obesity relates to the body mass index (BMI): weight (kg)/height (2/m). Children above the 85th percentile are classified overweight and those above the 95th percentile, obese.
Childhood obesity seems to be a strong trigger of weight- related conditions like its effects on growing bones, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems. On the other hand, obesity has significant health consequences for their adult life, such as type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Genetic, endocrine and other medical problems can cause obesity in children. However, most cases of obesity are caused by imbalance in energy intake and expenditure related to unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity. It’s worth pointing out that unhealthy life style habits tend to run in families, as children use to learn bad behaviors from their parents and society around them.
The aim of this research is to determine and outline the role of family in terms of preventing obesity in children. Do parents recognize their children are overweight? Do parents and their children understand their conditions correctly? Do they know short-term and long-term consequences of obesity?
Research question: Is there a high correlation between unhealthy life style and obesity in children?
In order to find the answers for this questions it is essential to choose target population accurately. Sampling frame can be chosen from school-age children families. Parents of overweight children and parents of healthy weight children will be interviewed separately.
Sample: School-age children’s parents.
Semi-structure questions designed for parents include:
- Could you tell me exact weight of your child?
- Do you know about Body Mass Index (BMI)?
- If yes, have you ever measured your child’s weight by calculating BMI?
- Do you check your child’s blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose?
- Could you tell me your views about obesity?
- What do you think the impacts of obesity are on health?
- Could tell me the causes of obesity?
- Do you have family member(s) with obesity-related disease?
- Could you describe your family life style (in terms of food consumption and physical activities)
- What kind of food do your family prefer to eat?
- Are you interested in what your child eats during the day?
- Do you encourage your child to engage in physical activity?
- Do you see yourself as a role model of healthy eating and other behaviors for your children?
After collecting the data, in-depth analysis and interpretation of the findings are required, in order to identify social triggers and find more efficient methods to overcome the rising incidents of obesity in children.
