Researching Public Health Issues- How to Write an Effective Problem Statement

Researching Public Health Issues- How to Write an Effective Problem Statement

Childhood obesity is a current major public health concern with significant impacts on physical and mental health and negative socioeconomic outcomes. Over the years, some efforts have been invested in addressing childhood obesity. However, the prevalence of the condition continues to rise. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that an estimated 14.7 million, representing 19.7% of children aged below 19 years of age in the United States, were overweight or obese. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Compared to the numbers from previous periods, the current trends indicate that the numbers will keep growing. A further analysis of the data shows significant racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity. For instance, of all children and adolescents noted to be living with childhood obesity, 26.2% are noted to have a Hispanic racial background, 24.8% are non-Hispanic Black, while, 16.6% are non-Hispanic White and 9.0% non-Hispanic Asian Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The development of childhood obesity is due to an interplay of social determinants of health and lifestyle choices. A majority of childhood obesity cases are related to poor food, eating cultures, behaviors, and lifestyle choices among young children and adolescents (Verduci et al., 2021). There is also a growing concern over the genetic disposition to obesity among certain individuals. At the same time, social and environmental factors, including the built environment, cultural food practices, marketing strategies for unhealthy foods, and access to healthy foods collectively increased the susceptibility to and growing rate of childhood obesity in the United States. Additionally, childhood obesity is linked to the development of other multiple conditions, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, liver complications, and mental issues such as depression (Smith et al., 2020).

Current evidence shows that although parents agree and understand the problem of childhood obesity, they are yet to accept and recognize obesity in their children or even realize obesity in their children is a problem of concern (Hildebrand et al., 2019). Additionally, Bera et al. (2021) describe childhood obesity as a silent epidemic due to the limited awareness about the condition and its related health conditions. This creates the need to improve awareness among the general to support professional efforts toward the prevention of childhood obesity and improve public health outcomes.

References

Bera, O. P., Saleem, S. M., Singh, D. K., Gokdemir, O., Tripathi, S., Ghatak, N., Hossain, M. M., & Bhattacharya, S. (2021). Optimizing the impact of health and related programs/policies to address the issue of Childhood Obesity in India—-A narrative review. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 10(4), 1554. https://doi.org/10.4103/JFMPC.JFMPC_2008_20

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May 17). Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Hildebrand, D. A., Betts, N. M., & Gates, G. E. (2019). Parents’ Perceptions of Childhood Obesity and Support of the School Wellness Policy. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51(4), 498–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JNEB.2018.12.009

Smith, J. D., Fu, E., & Kobayashi, M. A. (2020). Prevention and Management of Childhood Obesity and Its Psychological and Health Comorbidities. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 16, 351–378. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-CLINPSY-100219-060201

Verduci, E., Bronsky, J., Embleton, N., Gerasimidis, K., Indrio, F., Köglmeier, J., de Koning, B., Lapillonne, A., Moltu, S. J., Norsa, L., & Domellöf, M. (2021). Role of Dietary Factors, Food Habits, and Lifestyle in Childhood Obesity Development: A Position Paper From the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 72(5), 769–783. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0000000000003075

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Students will research their public health topic and develop a problem statement. Please utilize the Community Health Resource tab on the left panel in Blackboard.

Researching Public Health Issues- How to Write an Effective Problem Statement

View the CDC Gateway Health Communication link to assist with writing the problem statement.