Reviewing The Ways To Control Child Obesity In Public Health Practices Of UK Case Study

Reviewing The Ways To Control Child Obesity In Public Health Practices Of UK

Seeking assignment help online in the UK? Native Assignment Help is here to alleviate your academic burden. With our user-friendly platform and round-the-clock support, getting top-notch assignments has never been easier.

1. Introduction: Reviewing The Ways To Control Child Obesity In Public Health Practices Of UK

1.1. Background

Childhood obesity is a multifaceted medical condition that occurs in children when they are above their requirements of healthy weight as per their height and age (Sahoo, et al., 2015). The definition of childhood obesity as per medical science is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of a child at or above 95% on the growth charts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Dietz, 2015). The major aspects that play a crucial role in childhood obesity are lifestyle, psychological factors, and family history. The major cause of childhood obesity is a combination of exercising too little and eating too much unhealthy food. Several convenience foods, for instance, salty snacks and frozen dinners also contribute to the unhealthy weight gain of the children. Children suffering from obesity tend to grow several major health risks, such as asthma, heart disease, and diabetes (Sabin, et al., 2015). In accumulation to these risks, obese children also tend to face joint pain and sleep disorders.

In the year 2019, the government of the UK declared obesity in children one of the major health challenges (Ziauddeen, et al., 2022). Children in the UK are less involved in physical activities as compared to some other countries in Western Europe. It has been evaluated that 31% of children between the age group 5-19 years in Britain are suffering from obesity which is higher than the average in the G20 group and OECD of the world’s largest economies (Frew, et al., 2022). As per the data National Child Measurement Programme, in the year 2020/21, 14.4% of children between age group 4-5 are suffering from obesity and 25.5% of children between age group 10-11 are suffering from obesity (Theis and White, 2021).

1.2. Problem Statement

Childhood obesity is a serious and severe medical condition that has a negative impact on both adolescents and children. This is especially troublesome because being overweight often leaves children with several health problems that were once thought to be adults’ problems, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes (Weihrauch-Blüher and Wiegand, 2018). Childhood obesity can also further leads to depression and poor self-esteem. Some of the major risk factors that are considered responsible for childhood obesity are eating high-calorie and non-nutritional food on regular basis, and lack of regular physical exercise. In addition to this, several psychological factors, family factors, socioeconomic factors, and certain medications are also considered major risk factors that cause childhood obesity (Gurnani, et al., 2015).

1.3. Aim

The aim of the research is to develop an understanding of the public healthcare practices to control obesity among children in UK.

1.4. Objectives

• To identify the major causes and symptoms of obesity among children in UK
• To explore the challenges faced in public healthcare practices in controlling obesity among children in UK
• To recommend the public health practices to control obesity among children in UK

1.5. Research question

What are the different ways and public health care practices that can be used to control obesity among children in the UK?

1.6. Research Rationale and Significance

In addition to the above-discussed issues, some of the major issues or factors that are also responsible for obesity in children are birth weight, parental obesity, child temperament, and parent and child behaviour (Small and Aplasca, 2016). Therefore, it is significant to study the health practices that can reduce obesity in children. In this context, the following study assists in developing a deep understanding of public health practices that are suitable for controlling obesity among children. The outcomes of the study assist public health practitioners to analyse various ways through which they can reduce the risk of obesity in children.

1.7. Research structure

The following research has been structured and followed a list of organised chapters in order to achieve the aim and purposes of the research. These chapters are

1. Introduction: This is the first section of the research and forms an appropriate ground for the complete research. This portrays the aim and objective to be followed and justified after the completion of the research.
2. Literature review: This section of the research critically discusses the opinions and views of numerous authors on the area of the following research. This section majorly uses peer-reviewed journals and articles to form appropriate discussions.
3. Research methodology: This chapter provides appropriate techniques and methods that are utilised to identify, collect, and interpret appropriate data for accomplishing the aim of the research.
4. Results: This section generates appropriate findings from the analysis of the gathered data. The data gathered is analysed using the most-suited techniques in order to generate appropriate findings to find the answer to the research question.
5. Discussion: This section discusses and compares the findings of the literature review with the discussion and findings of the study.
6. Conclusion and recommendations: This section offers concluding remarks on the basis of the discussion done in the above chapters. In addition to this, recommendations in this chapter are provided on the basis of the major challenges associated with the research area and the problems identified during the complete research process.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Introduction

The literature review is considered one of the significant segments of the research which focuses on developing a theoretical understanding of the provided research topic. In the literature review, the critical aspect is covered based on the existing research and along with it, the insights are being generated to fulfill the primary requirement of the research. The literature review helps in conceptualising the viewpoint and along with it, the significant framework can be applied accordingly to collect the evidence and factual data.

2.2. Major causes and symptoms of obesity among children in UK

As per the concern of, Stamatakis, et al., (2010), obesity is considered one of the complex factors that can be driven easily due to multiple and interacting behavioural, social, and environmental aspects. Child Obesity and the overweight prevalence trends can be observed easily in England, and UK resulting in the growth of socioeconomic disparities (Peter et al. 2022). The author has evaluated the outcomes based on the primary data collection and conducted a survey and the responses for almost 7880 boys of the group of five to ten years have been observed. The author has also provided the statement that the prime reason for excess obesity in the child at a young age is directly associated with long-term health complications that comprise asthma and diabetes. However, Sutaria, et al., (2019), the author stated that the Socioeconomic Position (SEP), is directly associated with the type of corpulence indicator, variation in age, and ethnicity of the population. The recent review is based on the cross-sectional analysis provided the outcomes that the SEP indicators are responsible to influence the parental risk in terms of identifying the relation with the associated risk factors for childhood obesity.

Figure 1: Clinical Problems Caused by Obesity

Regards to the viewpoint of, Thompson, et al., (2018), food poverty has directly associated with complex diseases such as obesity, malnutrition, impaired liver functions, and iron deficiency in the UK. The author has gathered the data along with the use of a qualitative method in order to identify the well-being and health-related challenges in UK. Here, a total of 42 participants were interviewed and along with the use of Grounded Theory, in order to experience contemporary life associated with food poverty issues. The primary issues that occur due to food poverty are responsible for impacting the health-related aspects of the child in the UK (Darling, et al., 2020). Food poverty is considered one of the effective causes that are primarily liable for diseases such as obesity. In UK, food poverty is conceptualised as a barrier with respect to providing adequate barriers and nutrition to young children (Moore, et al., 2018). As per the knowledge of, Blüher, (2019), lack of excess adequate and fresh food and amplification of the existing health and social problems are also the major cause of childhood obesity in the UK.

2.3. Challenges faced in public healthcare practices in controlling obesity among children in UK

As per the following concern, Buzzetti, et al., (2020), obesity is primarily responsible to affect the children of pre-school from both high and low-level countries. The imbalance between the intake of energy and the significant obesogenic environment is considered the major reason for obesity among children in UK (Hanckel, et al., 2019). Almost 5.1% of the children in preschool living in UKsuffer from the problem of obesity (Lanigan, 2018). Following, Karmali, et al., (2019), the prevalence of obesity is observed at a high rate in the towns and cities of the UK (9.9%) as paralleled with the rural areas (7.9%) suggesting that the urban children of the UK are at high risk.

Child obesity occurs due to an imbalance between the intake of calories and utilisation of the calories for growth, metabolism, physical activities, and significant development. Obesity can be considered multifactorial in children. According to Karnik and Kanekar, (2012), some factors such as behavioral factors and hereditary factors are helpful in increasing the vulnerability to obesity in children. Genetic factors help in stimulating the metabolism, by altering the energy intake, fat content, and energy expenditure of the body. Following, Caprio, et al., (2020), the heritability of corpulence from parents influences fatness in children at a high rate and due to this, the weight can be increased at a younger age. The author here stated the physical, social, and psychological problems that can be caused due to childhood obesity. The author reviewed the research based on the secondary data collection method and used CINAHL, ERIC, and MEDLINE to examine the significant interventions. Classification of obesity in children can be defined based on the body composition of the children. The worldwide increment in childhood obesity is common in the UK and it has increased by almost 14% since 2004 (Powell, 2019).

As per the knowledge of, Smith, et al., (2020), to resolve the significant health practices, school-based interventions and hospital-based interventions are helpful and can help in adopting effective strategies to prevent childhood obesity. The provided interventions are the sub-segment of the Behavioral interventions that can help in resolving health-related challenges. Childhood corpulence is a foremost community health issue and the difficulties caused due to childhood obesity severely affect the well-being of a child even in adulthood (Huang, et al., 2015). Hence, it is the primary requirement to address the provided problem at every possible step through effective interventions and motivation strategies. The school-based intervention can help in controlling the major activities of the children in school life and it can help in engaging them in different activities (Kim and Lim, 2019).

Hospital-based interventions play a substantial role in monitoring the health practices of children and help significantly in evaluating the associated risk. The Weight loss program and strong increment with physical activity are highly recommended for children of the age group below seven years (Huang, et al., 2015). Pharmacological therapy for children can also help in reducing the negative consequences and can optimize the associated outcomes. Schools and hospital-based interventions can encourage kids to choose healthy food and can contribute to decreasing the intake of sugary foods or carbonated drinks. It also helps in inspiring kids to drink healthy water, vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices. The classroom-based health education can also help in creating the awareness program and can guide the children in an intaking nutritious diet (Smith, et al., 2020).

2.4. Public health practices to control obesity among children in UK

Currently, almost a third of children from the age group of two to fifteen are overweight or obese, and newer generations are becoming corpulent at earlier ages. As per the concern of, Salas, (2015), a reduction of the obesity level is highly required in order to save a life, as it is primarily responsible for increasing the risk of dying prematurely. It is considered one of the complex problems with different drivers including behaviour, genetics, environment, and culture. Following, Aranceta, et al., (2009), it is necessary to focus on healthy practices, and for the same, it is equally necessary to adopt a significant framework that can help in monitoring the strong nutrient profile model. The author here has centered on reviewing the research based on the primary data collection method and evaluated significant aspects to conduct the survey analysis.

In order to practice healthy activities for young children in the UK, it is necessary to engage them in regular and physical activities. In the recent study by, Bartrina, (2013), it has been analysed that new interactive and online available tools can help children engage in daily activities and along with it, a healthier lifestyle can be developed accordingly. Choosing healthier food and limiting unhealthy food along with controlling the screen time on TV and mobile phones can be the best practices to control the level of obesity in children in the UK. However, Tiwari and Balasundaram, (2022), stated that increasing sleep time along with significant practices to reduce the stress level can help in controlling the obesity practices among children in UK.

Figure 2: Public health practices to control obesity

Significant implementation of the policies is one of the major practices that can help in contributing to the creation of a healthy community food environment. As per the concern MacLean, et al., of, (2019), some of the major and prime policies consist of providing incentives to supermarkets or farmers’ markets in order to establish outcomes in underserved areas. Significant implementation of nutrition standards can support childcare practices and can control the level of obesity. Digital Health Interventions, Early care and Education, and a Healthy Food Environment are also considered significant outcomes which can help in implementing public health practices to control obesity among children in UK. However, Huang, et al., (2015), stated that a strong education program and maintenance of the Nutrition standard for foods in Schools can play a substantial role in controlling the negative impact of obesity in children.

2.5. Summary

From the above critical analysis, it has been identified that the primary reason for obesity in the child at a young age is directly related to long-term health issues, that comprises asthma and diabetes. Further, it has been identified that food poverty is considered one of the effective causes that are primarily liable for diseases such as obesity. Moreover, to resolve the significant health practices, school-based interventions and hospital-based interventions are helpful and can help in adopting effective strategies to prevent childhood obesity. The Weight loss program and strong increment with physical activity are highly recommended for children of the age group below seven years. Significant implementation of the policies is one of the major practices that can help in contributing to the creation of a healthy community food environment.

Chapter 3: Methodology

a. 3.1 Introduction

According to a study of the research, there has been an increase in childhood obesity in the UK. Despite the implementation of numerous public initiatives, the number of people impacted in the country has continued to rise due to sedentary lifestyles and eating habits. While integrating schools in the process, various healthy behaviors, breastfeeding relationships, and health promotion models can offer mitigation and intervention in this situation. This systematic study investigated each of these factors in order to create a mitigation strategy for dealing with childhood obesity in the UK.

b. 3.2 Selection criteria

The literature that was gathered for the study's secondary research was sorted, and a systematic review was used to construct the data that was gleaned from it. This process included a detailed analysis of the information acquired from Six databases: PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, EBSCO, Proquest, and OVID. The provision of fresh evidence that will assist inform future practice and policy is one of the reasons a systematic review was thought to be the best method for carrying out the study because it allows for a full investigation of the literature and the presentation of the findings (Munn et al., 2018). The "scoping review," on the other hand, necessitates more organised searches and typically incorporates a higher number of kinds of literature. This explains why the researchers' data extraction method becomes challenging. Overall, it can be said that "scoping review" complicates the research process and adds time to it. For this reason, "systematic review" was selected for this research instead of "scoping review."

3.2.1 PEO framework

By creating a PEO framework, the researcher is able to build a targeted evaluation of the existing literature for this secondary study and combine analysis of the evidential outcomes into these studies for screening and selection of the huge amount of material (Kloda et al., 2020).

Parameters	Keywords
Population	“United Kingdom” “UK” “Children” “0 to 15 years” “Overweight Children” “Obesity” “Childhood Obesity” “multi-ethnic population” “primary-school children” “preschool”
Exposure	“Unhealthy diet” “childhood obesity”, “lack of physical activity” “lack of education”
Outcome	“Obesity” “Childhood Obesity” “body mass index” “cardiorespiratory fitness” “Inter-pregnancy weight gain” “Breastfeeding” “wellbeing”

Table 3.1: Keyword Generation through “PEO” framework

3.2.2 Search terms /keywords used to broaden search

The following keywords were found as the results of literature while looking for relevant journals and databases. Such terms like "food habit," "sedentary lifestyle," "unhealthy lifestyle," "processed food," "societal habits," "ill-use," and "weight loss" Along with the geopolitical region of the United Kingdom that was chosen for this study. This makes the research more geographically localised and allows for the inclusion of the country's healthcare infrastructure, which increases the research's validity and dependability. This aids the nation's healthcare system in identifying its infrastructure's strengths and weaknesses. Primary-school children, children, overweight children, and childhood obesity are the main search terms.

3.2.3 Search Strategy- description of the databases used

In order to perform this study, a review of recent literature that intended to offer insightful insights on this subject was obtained (Munn et al., 2018). Five online databases were looked up to take advantage of their accessibility, a number of continually updated repositories, mostly peer-reviewed publications, and scholarly and verified content. PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, and OVID are the s of these five databases. Since each of the journals gathered from these five database sources was checked, they all preserve accurate and impartial data. Electronic databases can be used to do searches more quickly and easily, and many undesirable results can be easily filtered out.

In addition to scanning electronic databases, hand searches were also done by looking through reference lists at the back of publications. Although no publications were added as a result, this gave the systematic review extra material. The summation of all the information that was gathered, examined, summarised, sorted, and classified in accordance with the aforementioned inclusion and exclusion criteria is explained below.

3.2.4 Inclusion and Exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria

To ensure that the most recent research was considered in the evaluation, the date restrictions were changed to include studies from 2018 to 2022. Only works written in English have been included, raising the danger of linguistic bias and raising the chance that other works on the subject written in other languages may have gone unnoticed.

Exclusion Criteria

The table below lists the exclusion criteria. They excluded duplicate items from the group. Additionally, the irrelevant information that did not have a title, abstract, full-text, or contained qualitative analysis was eliminated.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Table

Inclusion Criteria	Exclusion Criteria
“United Kingdom”	“Elsewhere in the world”
“Childhood obesity”	“Obesity in Adults”
“Publication timeline – 2018 to 2022”	“Published journals prior of 2018”
“English language”	“Other languages”
“Quantitative”	“Qualitative”
Children (Age: 0 to 17 years)	Adults (Age: 18 and above)

Table 3.2: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

c. 3.2.5 Results of data base searches

Database	Search dates	No. of hits retrieved	No. of duplicates	No. of articles discarded for other reasons	No. of articles read title & abstract	No. of articles exclude d	No. of articles include d
Science Direct	5/11/22	110	48	47	15	12	3
PubMed	5/11/22	218	98	36	84	81	3
Medline	5/11/22	97	57	33	7	5	2
OVID	5/11/22	89	36	27	26	25	0
Proquest	8/11/22	26	28	34	9	17	1
EBSCO	8/11//22	42	16	41	12	9	3

Table 3.3: database searches Result

PRISMA Diagram

Figure 3.1: PRISMA Flow diagram

d. 3.3 Quality Assessment

The researcher developed a solid understanding of the subject by using the CASP (Critical Appraisal Skill Programme) method to assess the quality of each article. It was discovered that the review addressed specific inquiries while seeking the proper kind of paper that contained significant, pertinent studies pertaining to the subject (Long et al., 2020). The "CASP tool for systematic review" is utilised for this review, and a table demonstrating the usage of this particular assessment method is added to the study. The derived data was merged to create exact results that could be used by the neighborhood's population. By doing so, it became clear that there are far more advantages to developing an obesity prevention approach for kids than disadvantages.

e. 3.4 Extraction of data

The method through which researchers obtain bits of pertinent information for their studies is known as data extraction. Different databases were employed for this research, and the researcher was solely involved in the process because it calls for serious commitment and the capacity for making judgement calls. There were no biases in this procedure, and the complete texts of the articles that were gathered for this research are included in the appendix of this publication along with the search strategy table.

f. 3.5 Conclusion

The current methodological approaches used in research are the focus of this chapter. Readers can gain an understanding of the research process from this chapter. The PEO structure is covered in detail along with all selection criteria. To make the research more pertinent, keywords were included in this study. Results of database searches are displayed in a table with clear explanations of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The PRISMA diagram reveals that this research consists of eleven studies, and the search strategy table is offered in this document along with those research components.

5. Results

a. Introduction

This chapter of the research portrays the findings derived from the journals and articles selected using the systematic review and Prisma flow diagram. The journals that are relevant to childhood obesity and ways to control child obesity in public health practices have been selected for deriving appropriate findings for the research. In this context, the following section of the research discusses the articles selected to generate appropriate findings.

b. Annotated Bibliography

Sanyaolu, A., Okorie, C., Qi, X., Locke, J. and Rehman, S., 2019. Childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States: a public health concern.Global pediatric health,6, p.2333794X19891305.

From the analysis of the article discussing childhood and adolescent obesity in the U.S, it has been analysed that obesity can have an adverse effect on all aspects of adolescents and children, incorporating but not limited to their cardiovascular and mental health as well as their complete physical health (Sanyaolu, et al., 2019). The link between outcomes of morbidity and obesity is indeed a public health concern for adolescents and children. Obesity has a significant impact on mental as well as physical health. As a result, it is related to numerous complications, for instance, low self-esteem, sleep apnea, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and even major forms of depression (Sanyaolu, et al., 2019). Additionally, obese children after adulthood are more likely to develop digestive and cardiovascular diseases. Increased body fat also puts children at increased risk of many forms of cancer, for instance, oesophageal, kidney, colon, breast, and pancreatic cancers.

Prevention and management of childhood obesity have two main components. The first component of childhood obesity prevention is to educate parents about proper nutritional necessities for their children and the second is to put into practice what they learn (Guyenet and Schwartz, 2012). Educating parents about their children’s proper calorie needs and nutrition is at the forefront of obesity prevention. However, the way information regarding the same is distributed can affect its usefulness. For instance, one of the major borders to educating parents about childhood obesity is that written information is usually utilised as a channel for disease prevention and health information (Guyenet and Schwartz, 2012). Educating parents about nutrition and health and engaging politicians, doctors, and school staff are key to preventing childhood obesity. Nonetheless, educational institutions and communities have legislated and enacted programs, for instance, providing healthy diets in schools as well as holding health information sessions for young people, to prevent childhood obesity in Canada and the United States.

Figure 4: Potential health consequences of obesity

Who.int, 2022. Obesity and Overweight. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight [Accessed: 8 November 2022]

At the moment, about 15 out of every 100 children have obesity in the UK, which is a highly common condition among kids worldwide. Nearly 13% of adults worldwide struggle with obesity and its associated health problems (Who.int, 2022). The overall number of persons who have experienced the condition for a specific amount of time is referred to as a disease's prevalence. The percentage of the population under consideration is normally how this value is expressed. It is important to clarify the distinction between "prevalence" and "incidence" in this situation. The proportion of the population who are afflicted with a specific illness or condition at a given period. The percentage of the population who acquires the illness during that specific time period is what is meant by the term "incidence," on the other hand. In particular, the prevalence of obesity among adolescents and children has significantly increased, rising from 4% in 1975 to 18% in 2020, according to the other World Health Organization research (Who.int, 2022).

Taxing unhealthy food and drink discourages consumption, reduces the externalities related to unhealthy diets, offsets the information asymmetry caused by food advertising, and generates revenues to support anti-obesity efforts. It has been used all over the world to produce appropriate evidence from high-income nations that shows that food taxes increase the price of unhealthy foods and, in some cases, reduce purchases of saturated and processed fats by up to 15% (World Health Organization, 2016). Although most European countries require nutritional information to appear on packaged foods, the majority of consumers report that they do not understand the nutritional information presented. Public Health Departments and consumer groups now have a strong interest in moving from confusing and complex front-of-package (FOP) label to easy-to-understand labels with images and clear messages (Roberto and Kawachi, 2014). Until now, front-of-package messages were voluntarily added by food manufacturers, centered only on highlighting the superior nutritional properties of products (i.e., high in fiber, a rich source of vitamins, and so forth).

Smith, J.D., Fu, E. and Kobayashi, M.A., 2020. Prevention and management of childhood obesity and its psychological and health comorbidities.Annual review of clinical psychology,16, pp.351-378.

Influenced by health behaviours, psychological factors, biology, and genetics, childhood obesity is a multifaceted public health problem that is affecting most developed as well as developing nations around the world (Smith, et al., 2020). Physical inactivity and Poor diet, the leading causes of obesity, are among the leading reasons for preventable death among young people, economic health burden, and chronic disease. In spite of the urgent necessity for early intervention to prevent childhood obesity and prevent the increase in obesity at later stages of development, few interventions have revealed long-term efficacy or are implemented on a scale to the extent that it has a significant public health impact (Smith, et al., 2020).

Intervention strategies to manage and prevent childhood obesity occur across a variety of settings and within, and coordinate with various service delivery systems. This is largely due to several risk factors specific at the family, school, and community/society levels (St. George, et al., 2020). In particular, for prevention, there is some communication between the context and the target sample, so that community and school interventions are likely to be much more common (unweighted sample) or selective compared to the models shown that are most commonly found in specialty and primary health care systems. Specific intervention goals and behavioral change strategies are appropriate for the context and approach.

6. Discussion

a. Introduction

This section of the research discusses the findings obtained from the analysis of the articles selected using the Prisma flow diagram and systematic review. Several themes related to the research area have been developed in order to discuss the findings of the literature review with the findings obtained from analysing relevant articles.

b. Discussion

Theme 1: Causes and symptoms of obesity in Children

From the discussion of the literature review, it has been analysed that obesity is one of the complex issues that is easily driven by several behavioural, social, and environmental aspects. It has been analysed that the prime reason for childhood obesity is related directly to several long-term health complications such as diabetes and asthma. Several SEP indicators such as corpulence indicator, variation in age, and ethnicity of the population are also considered responsible for influencing the parental risk in the context of analysing the relation with the risk factors for childhood obesity. In addition to this, it has also been analysed from the discussion of the literature review that food poverty is also one of the key reasons that are responsible for obesity in children. Further, the imbalance between energy intake and the substantial obesogenic environment is also considered the key reason for obesity among children in.

From the findings obtained, it has been analysed that in addition to the above-stated causes and symptoms, limited access to space, high level of urbanisation, and permeating access to ultra-processed food that is high in calories and added trans-fat are also the key causes of obesity in children. From the findings, it has also been analysed that the physical inactivity of an individual as well as poor diet structure is considered the major or leading cause of obesity in children. From the findings of the literature review, it has been analysed that lack of excess adequate and fresh food and amplification of the existing social and health problems are also considered some of the major causes of obesity in children in the UK. Further, it has been analysed that obesity in children also occurs due to an imbalance between the utilisation of calories and intake of calories for physical activities, metabolism, and growth and development. In addition to this, the heritability of obesity from parents influences fatness and obesity in children at a high rate.

Theme 2: Impact of obesity on children

From the discussion and findings of the literature review, it has been analysed that the key impacts of obesity on children are mood disorders, cancer risk, reproductive disorders, heart disease, dyslipidemia, liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. The literature review also stated that obesity affects the children of pre-primary school from both low-level as well as high-level nations. It has also been analysed that childhood obesity is also responsible for several physicals, social, and psychological problems.

From the findings obtained, it has been analysed that obesity has a severe impact on cardiovascular as well as mental health. In addition to this, obesity also impacts the physical health of children suffering from it. In addition to this, from the findings, it has been analysed that obesity at the same time is also responsible for low self-esteem, sleep apnea, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and even depression. Further, it has been obtained that obese children after adulthood are more likely to develop cardiovascular as well as digestive diseases. Childhood obesity also leads to the risk of numerous forms of cancer, majorly, pancreatic, breast, colon, kidney, and oesophageal cancer. The findings it has also analysed that obesity can also leads to economic health burden, chronic diseases, and the most severe death of an individual. In addition to this, it has also been analysed findings that the major impacts of obesity on children as well as adolescents are heart disease, mood disorders, cancer risk, reproductive disorders, dyslipidemia, liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.

Theme 3: Controlling practices for obesity in Children

From the findings and discussion in the literature review, it has been identified that in order to resolve the issue of childhood obesity as well as several health practices, school-based interventions and hospital-based interventions are helpful. It has been analysed that these interventions are helpful in adopting effective strategies in order to prevent childhood obesity in the UK. It has been identified that school-based interventions can assist in monitoring and controlling the major activities of children in schools that further assist in engaging children in different physical as well as mental activities.

From the findings of the study, it has been analysed that community, as well as school-based interventions, can significantly assist in controlling obesity in children. Community interventions incorporates policies and strategies in order to decrease the risk of obesity in the population through changes in economic incentives, provision of accessible assets, changes in the built environment, legislation, price reductions, and food subsidies. The findings as well as a discussion of the literature review portrayed that community interventions include the utilisation of community health services, media, urban planning, community gardens, businesses (such as restaurants), community or recreation centers, and local government. School-based interventions are implemented during or after school hours for children studying in kindergarten to secondary and high secondary school and are centered entirely at school or are carried out primarily in a school setting with a home/family context, community, primary care, or secondary home. Given that most children around the world spend most of the day in school, several preventive interventions have used the school as a gateway to ameliorating obesity environments, for example by encouraging to be more physically active during school hours and breaks, enlightening school playgrounds and nutrition options in the school canteen, and provide healthy lifestyle education in the classroom.

c. Summary

From the above discussion, it has been analysed that the prime reason for childhood obesity is related directly to several long-term health complications. The physical inactivity of an individual as well as poor diet structure is considered the major or leading cause of obesity in children in the UK. It has been identified that obesity in children also occurs due to an imbalance between the utilisation of calories and the intake of calories. It has been identified that the major impact of obesity on children are cancer risk, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, mood disorders, dyslipidemia, liver disease, reproductive disorders, and hypertension. Further, childhood obesity also has a severe impact on the mental as well as cardiovascular health of the children. Some of the key preventive measures or interventions that assist in controlling childhood obesity are school-based interventions and hospital-based interventions. In addition to this, community-based interventions are also helpful in controlling obesity in children in the UK.

7. Conclusion and Recommendations

a. Introduction

It is the last segment that helps in outlining the overall findings and focuses on the strategic approaches to identify the control and measures for the prevention of obesity. In the conclusion, all the major segments have been discussed and are summarised based on the objectives of the provided literature review. The recommended strategies help in resolving the challenges and can focus directly on further implementation.

b. Conclusion

With regards to objective one, it can be concluded that multiple and interacting environmental, social, and behavioural aspects are considered the key factors that are responsible for obesity in children in the UK. The findings of the study portrayed that, limited access to space, a high level of urbanisation, and permeating access to ultra-processed food that is high in calories and added trans-fat are also the key causes of obesity in children in the UK. It has also been analysed that asthma and diabetes are the major long-term health complication that is caused due to childhood obesity. The analysed impacts of obesity on the health of children are cancer risk, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, mood disorders, dyslipidemia, liver disease, reproductive disorders, and hypertension.

With regards to objective two, it can be concluded that the key challenges faced in public health practices in controlling obesity among children are lack of resources and public funding, lack of commercial marketing of healthy foods, and lack of support from parents and friends. In addition to this, it has been identified that a lack of awareness of a healthy and nutritious diet is also the key challenge in controlling childhood obesity in the UK.

With regards to objective three, it can be concluded that digital health interventions, early care, education, and a healthy food environment are the major public health practices that are helpful in controlling obesity among children in the UK. In addition to this, the findings of the study further stated that school-based interventions, community-based interventions, and hospital-based interventions are some of the major interventions that are also helpful in controlling childhood obesity in the UK.

c. Recommendations

It is recommended that building an early relationship with healthy foods, incorporating physical activity into the daily routine, and monitoring outside eating habits by parents can help in reducing obesity in children.

Building of early relationship with healthy foods: The over-eating can cause various health issues such as increment in sugar levels, physical disorders, and heart-related diseases. It is necessary to encourage the child so that a variety of healthy fruits, and vegetables can help in controlling the negative consequences of obesity on the health of the children. It is also necessary to encourage the children for eating slowly and eat only when feeling an appetite.

Incorporation of physical activity into the daily routine: As per the data analysis by WHO, encouragement of physical activities can effectively help in controlling the negative impact of obesity in children. The children must be encouraged in order to indulge in outdoor gaming, gymming, cycling, and other outdoor chores.

Monitoring of outside eating habits by parents: It is necessary to focus properly on the outside eating habits of the children so that the track can be maintained accordingly. Asking questions and taking feedback from the children is one of the significant strategies to monitor the track of outside eating of the children.

References

Abd, A.S., Elhafyan, E., Siddiqui, A.R., Alnoush, W., Blunt, M.J. and Alyafei, N., 2019. A review of the phenomenon of counter-current spontaneous imbibition: Analysis and data interpretation.Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering,180, pp.456-470.

Aranceta, J., Moreno, B., Moya, M. and Anadón, A., 2009. Prevention of overweight and obesity from a public health perspective.Nutrition reviews,67(suppl_1), pp.S83-S88.

Bartrina, J.A., 2013. Public health and the prevention of obesity: Failure or success?.Nutrición hospitalaria,28(5), pp.128-137.

Blüher, M., 2019. Obesity: global epidemiology and pathogenesis.Nature Reviews Endocrinology,15(5), pp.288-298.

Boelens, R., De Wever, B. and Voet, M., 2017. Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review.Educational Research Review,22, pp.1-18.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2019. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis.Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health,11(4), pp.589-597.

Buzzetti, R., Zampetti, S. and Pozzilli, P., 2020. Impact of obesity on the increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes.Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism,22(7), pp.1009-1013.

Caprio, S., Santoro, N. and Weiss, R., 2020. Childhood obesity and the associated rise in cardiometabolic complications.Nature Metabolism,2(3), pp.223-232.

Darling, J.C., Bamidis, P.D., Burberry, J. and Rudolf, M.C., 2020. The First Thousand Days: early, integrated and evidence-based approaches to improving child health: coming to a population near you?.Archives of disease in childhood,105(9), pp.837-841.

Dietz, W.H., 2015. The response of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the obesity epidemic.Annu Rev Public Health,36(1), pp.575-596.

Frew, E., Afentou, N., Mohtashami Borzadaran, H., Candio, P. and Pokhilenko, I., 2022. Using Economics to Impact Local Obesity Policy: Introducing the UK Centre for Economics of Obesity (CEO).Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, pp.1-7.

Gurnani, M., Birken, C. and Hamilton, J., 2015. Childhood obesity: causes, consequences, and management.Pediatric Clinics,62(4), pp.821-840.

Guyenet, S.J. and Schwartz, M.W., 2012. Regulation of food intake, energy balance, and body fat mass: implications for the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity.The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,97(3), pp.745-755.

Hanckel, B., Ruta, D., Scott, G., Peacock, J.L. and Green, J., 2019. The Daily Mile as a public health intervention: a rapid ethnographic assessment of uptake and implementation in South London, UK.BMC Public Health,19(1), pp.1-14.

Huang, T.T., Cawley, J.H., Ashe, M., Costa, S.A., Frerichs, L.M., Zwicker, L., Rivera, J.A., Levy, D., Hammond, R.A., Lambert, E.V. and Kumanyika, S.K., 2015. Mobilisation of public support for policy actions to prevent obesity.The Lancet,385(9985), pp.2422-2431.

Karmali, S., Ng, V., Battram, D., Burke, S., Morrow, D., Pearson, E.S., Tucker, P., Mantler, T., Cramp, A., Petrella, R. and Irwin, J.D., 2019. Coaching and/or education intervention for parents with overweight/obesity and their children: study protocol of a single-centre randomized controlled trial.BMC Public Health,19(1), pp.1-12.

Karnik, S. and Kanekar, A., 2012. Childhood obesity: a global public health crisis.Int J Prev Med,3(1), pp.1-7.

Kim, J. and Lim, H., 2019. Nutritional management in childhood obesity.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome,28(4), p.225.

Kloda, L.A., Boruff, J.T. and Cavalcante, A.S., 2020. A comparison of patient, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) to a new, alternative clinical question framework for search skills, search results, and self-efficacy: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA,108(2), p.185. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7069809/ (Accessed: 15th September 2022)

Kyrou, I., Randeva, H.S., Tsigos, C., Kaltsas, G. and Weickert, M.O., 2018. Clinical problems caused by obesity.Endotext [Internet].

Lanigan, J., 2018. Prevention of overweight and obesity in early life.Proceedings of the Nutrition Society,77(3), pp.247-256.

Long, H.A., French, D.P. and Brooks, J.M., 2020. Optimising the value of the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) tool for quality appraisal in qualitative evidence synthesis.Research Methods in Medicine & Health Sciences,1(1), pp.31-42. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2632084320947559 (Accessed: 15th September 2022)

MacLean, L., Edwards, N., Garrard, M., Sims-Jones, N., Clinton, K. and Ashley, L., 2019. Obesity, stigma and public health planning.Health promotion international,24(1), pp.88-93.

Moore, J.B., Horti, A. and Fielding, B.A., 2018. Evaluation of the nutrient content of yogurts: a comprehensive survey of yogurt products in the major UK supermarkets.BMJ open,8(8), p.e021387.

Munn, Z., Peters, M.D., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A. and Aromataris, E., 2018. Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach.BMC medical research methodology,18(1), pp.1-7. Available at: ttps://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x (Accessed: 15th September 2022)

Patino, C.M. and Ferreira, J.C., 2018. Inclusion and exclusion criteria in research studies: definitions and why they matter.Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia,44, pp.84-84.

Porzsolt, F., Wiedemann, F., Becker, S.I. and Rhoads, C.J., 2019. Inclusion and exclusion criteria and the problem of describing homogeneity of study populations in clinical trials.BMJ evidence-based medicine,24(3), pp.92-94.

Powell, D., 2019.Schools, corporations, and the war on childhood obesity: How corporate philanthropy shapes public health and education. Routledge.

Roberto, C.A. and Kawachi, I., 2014. Use of psychology and behavioral economics to promote healthy eating.American journal of preventive medicine,47(6), pp.832-837.

Sabin, M.A., Kao, K.T., Juonala, M., Baur, L.A. and Wake, M., 2015. Viewpoint article: childhood obesity–looking back over 50 years to begin to look forward.Journal of paediatrics and child health,51(1), pp.82-86.

Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A.K., Sofi, N.Y., Kumar, R. and Bhadoria, A.S., 2015. Childhood obesity: causes and consequences.Journal of family medicine and primary care,4(2), p.187.

Salas, X.R., 2015. The ineffectiveness and unintended consequences of the public health war on obesity.Canadian Journal of Public Health/Revue canadienne de santé publique,106(2), pp.e79-e81.

Sharit, J., Taha, J., Berkowsky, R.W., Profita, H. and Czaja, S.J., 2015. Online information search performance and search strategies in a health problem-solving scenario.Journal of cognitive engineering and decision making,9(3), pp.211-228.

Small, L. and Aplasca, A., 2016. Child obesity and mental health: a complex interaction.Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics,25(2), pp.269-282.

Smith, J.D., Fu, E. and Kobayashi, M.A., 2020. Prevention and management of childhood obesity and its psychological and health comorbidities.Annual review of clinical psychology,16, pp.351-378.

St. George, S.M., Agosto, Y., Rojas, L.M., Soares, M., Bahamon, M., Prado, G. and Smith, J.D., 2020. A developmental cascade perspective of paediatric obesity: A systematic review of preventive interventions from infancy through late adolescence.Obesity reviews,21(2), p.e12939.

Stamatakis, E., Wardle, J. and Cole, T.J., 2010. Childhood obesity and overweight prevalence trends in England: evidence for growing socioeconomic disparities.International journal of obesity,34(1), pp.41-47.

Sutaria, S., Devakumar, D., Yasuda, S.S., Das, S. and Saxena, S., 2019. Is obesity associated with depression in children? Systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of disease in childhood,104(1), pp.64-74.

Theis, D.R. and White, M., 2021. Is obesity policy in England fit for purpose? Analysis of government strategies and policies, 1992–2020.The Milbank Quarterly,99(1), pp.126-170.

Thompson, C., Smith, D. and Cummins, S.J.S.S., 2018. Understanding the health and wellbeing challenges of the food banking system: A qualitative study of food bank users, providers and referrers in London.Social Science & Medicine,211, pp.95-101.

Tiwari, A. and Balasundaram, P., 2022. Public health considerations regarding obesity. InStatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.

Vicente-Saez, R. and Martinez-Fuentes, C., 2018. Open Science now: A systematic literature review for an integrated definition.Journal of business research,88, pp.428-436.

Weihrauch-Blüher, S. and Wiegand, S., 2018. Risk factors and implications of childhood obesity.Current obesity reports,7(4), pp.254-259.

WHO., 2022. About WHO. [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.who.int/about [Accessed on: 01-09-2022].

World Health Organization, 2016. Fiscal policies for diet and prevention of noncommunicable diseases: technical meeting report, 5-6 May 2015, Geneva, Switzerland.

Zelniker, T.A., Wiviott, S.D., Raz, I., Im, K., Goodrich, E.L., Bonaca, M.P., Mosenzon, O., Kato, E.T., Cahn, A., Furtado, R.H. and Bhatt, D.L., 2019. SGLT2 inhibitors for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cardiovascular outcome trials.The Lancet,393(10166), pp.31-39.

Ziauddeen, N., Huang, J.Y., Taylor, E., Roderick, P.J., Godfrey, K.M. and Alwan, N.A., 2022. Interpregnancy weight gain and childhood obesity: analysis of a UK population-based cohort.International Journal of Obesity,46(1), pp.211-219.

Peter G. Kopelman, Ian D. Caterson, William H. Dietz, Sarah Armstrong, Arianne N. Sweeting, and John P. H. Wilding. 2022. Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children pp 341-342; 2 pages.

Monaghan, Lee F; Rich, Emma; Bombak, Andrea E. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group, May 17, 2022. Rethinking Obesity: Critical Perspectives in Crisis Times.