Parenting is a very important issue in the society and the world atlarge. Parents play a vital role in raising their children. Goodparentage is manifested in the growth and development of the childrenfrom young age to adulthood. My parenting research topic will be: Therole of parents in preventing childhood obesity in America. Myliterature review will be based on this topic and will explore thecurrent research data on the same. Obesity being a non-communicabledisease, presents a threat to the life of many American children.Parental involvement and care is paramount in determining the diet ofthe children as well as their behavioral changes.
Obesity in children can lead to many adverse health problems that canhave both immediate effects at young age or present later inadulthood. The cardiovascular effects of obesity top the list, withmany obese children experiencing atherosclerosis and othercardiovascular effects in adulthood. Other effects include diabetesmellitus type 2, metabolic syndromes, and thyroid problems amongothers. My literature review will scrutinize the role the Americanparents play in combating the menace of obesity in their children andthe various strategies they put in play. My paper will also explorethe results gained from previous research results and therecommendations put forward by the researchers. The shortcomings ofthe parents in dealing with obesity will also be explored.
My sources for the research topic will be based on the current datanot older than ten years. Scholarly and peer reviewed articles willtake the first priority. The sources chosen will present data fromvarious researches done on the topic showing any conflicting evidenceand opinion gaps in the literature.
The literature will also explore the relationships between thepresented literature and recommendations put across by theresearchers. The internet will form the bulk part of my sources.Literally articles and journals from the school online archives andlibrary will also form part of my sources. All these sources will bebased on the obesity current statistics in the American society aswell as a few articles touching on other countries for comparisonpurposes.
Examples of the articles I will use include Recommendations forPrevention of Childhood Obesity, researched by Davis et al.,(2007). It was printed in the Official Journal of American Academy ofPediatrics. This article focuses on the recommendations that parentscan adopt in combating childhood obesity such as types of diet andnutritional supplementation for children and management of childhoodeating habits. It also focuses on family interactions on diet andnutrition, importance of physical exercise and prevention ofsedentary lifestyles.
Another article I will use in my literature review is, The Role ofParents in Preventing Childhood Obesity, researched by Sussner etal (2006). This article focuses on parental roles in growth anddevelopment of children from infancy to adulthood. It analysesparental role in all stages of development, that is, infancy, toddlerage and early childhood, school age and youth/adolescent age. Healthyeating habits, physical exercises, leisure activities are welldemonstrated and discussed.
My literature review will take an in-depth approach in analyzing allthe sources that relate to my topic of interest and will give all thecredible recommendations and gaps in them. Future research will bewarranted to explore the gaps that exist and final recommendationsgiven to improve on the weaknesses of earlier research work.
References
Davis, M. M., Gance-Cleveland, B., Hassink, S., Johnson, R., Paradis,G., & Resnicow, K. (2007). Recommendations for prevention ofchildhood obesity. Pediatrics, 120 (Supplement 4), S229-S253.
Sussner, K. M., Lindsay, A. C., Gortmaker, S. L., & Kim, J.(2006). The role of parents in preventing childhood obesity. TheFuture of children, 16 (1), 169-186.
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