Author : Katie McSloy
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 58 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (889 download)
Book Synopsis Child, Family and Community Factors Associated with Obesity, Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs by : Katie McSloy
Download or read book Child, Family and Community Factors Associated with Obesity, Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs written by Katie McSloy and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Background: Approximately 14% of children and youth in the US are children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). CYSHCN have decreased physical activity and increased sedentary behaviors compared to typically developing children. CYSHCN often have difficulty eating. This project aims to describe CYSHCN on physical activity, eating habits, and weight status; identify factors associated with these behaviors and conditions; identify community resources families need or use to promote health behaviors; make recommendations to improve health behaviors in CYSHCN. Methods: A convenience sample of parent-child dyads (n=23) was recruited from a clinic for CYSHCN. Most children were boys (74%), mean age 9.8 years (SD=4.7). The most prevalent diagnoses were autism (30%), cerebral palsy (CP) (13%) and asthma (9%). Diagnoses were categorized as either cognitive/behavioral/emotional or medical/physical. Interviews were conducted with parents and children to obtain information on physical activity levels, eating habits and community resources. Parents were asked about facilitators and barriers to physical activity and healthy eating in closed-ended and open-ended questions. Child health status measures, most notably, body mass index (BMI) age-for-sex percentiles were recorded. Results: Most boys (63%) and girls (64%) in this study were obese. CYSHCN achieve 60 minutes of physical activity on an average of 4.68 (SD=1.94) days/week and participate in screen time for an average of 4.90 (SD=1.41) hours each weekday. CYSHCN in this study did not meet dietary recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Children with cognitive/behavioral/emotional diagnoses were more likely to be obese than children with medical/physical diagnoses. Many parents identified needing more accessible playgrounds, after school programs, and healthier food stores to promote healthy behaviors. Conclusion: CYSHCN in this study were more obese and engaged in fewer health promoting behaviors than typically developing children. Co-morbidities associated with overweight and obesity may have more severe health consequences when combined with the child's primary medical condition. Policy makers should work toward more inclusive and comprehensive physical activity and nutrition national guidelines for CYSHCN. Health promoting community resources should be universally accessible to all children. Future research is indicated to understand the association between obesity and children with cognitive/behavioral/emotional diagnoses.