Writing a PICO Question

November 2019

1. What is the problem?
Child obesity and how much parental control has influence on it. Screening for child obesity typically does not involve analyzing parental influence (Herbenick, James, Milton, and Cannon, n.d.).

 2. Why is the problem essential and relevant? What would happen if it were not addressed?
It creates awareness on how parents can help in reducing the rate of prevalence of obesity. If the issue is not addressed, many more children will end up suffering from obesity.

 3. What is the current practice?
Screening children for childhood obesity is done by checking their BMI and not including environmental cues at home or parental involvement (Herbenick et al., n.d.).

 4. How was the problem identified?
The problem under investigation was identified through quality concerns, that is, by evaluating the effectiveness of existing methods as far as the issue of controlling obesity is concerned. Notably, variations in practice were also put into consideration (Herbenick et al., n.d.).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  5. What are the PICO components?
P – Childhood obesity

I – Including screening children for environmental cues and parental influence.

C – Screening that only includes calculating children’s BMI.

O – Better identification of childhood obesity.

 6. Initial EBP question      ❑ Background   ❑ Foreground
·         What can be the impact of including parental influence and environmental cues when screening for childhood obesity?

·         Is the screening that practitioners are performing for child obesity including parental influence?

·         Does including parental and environmental cues when screening for child obesity as opposed to solely calculating BMI reduce risks for children becoming obese?

 

7. List possible search terms, databases to search, and search strategies.
Database- PubMed, EBSCO Host, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase.

Search Strategies: Childhood obesity, NP, parents, education, screening, environmental cues, nutrition

8. What evidence must be gathered?
Publications such as PubMed, general guidelines, and standard regulations as far as obesity is concerned. Correctly, the standards used by the community, that is, parents and teachers, as well as that used by professionals like nurses, will be used. Organizational data, such as family or patient preferences, will also be used.

9. Revised EBP question
Does including parental and environmental cues when screening for childhood obesity improve outcomes in identifying childhood obesity when compared to using a BMI screening alone?

10. Outcome measurement plan
What will we measure? How will we measure it? How often will we measure it?

 

  Where will we obtain the data?   Who will collect the data? To whom will we report the data?
Prevalence of obesity in children at elementary school using the FNPA tool. The outcome will be measured as a percentage. Daily. The data will be collected from the healthcare facilities, that is, from patients of a specified age (5 to 12 years old). The researcher (Myself). The report can be submitted to nurse educators, parents, guardians, and policymakers.

 

Ethical Dilemma.

Childhood obesity continues to be a major issue despite the efforts of public health to reduce its prevalence. The diagnosis and prevention of obesity are bound to ethical consideration. Ethics requires food manufacturers to improve labelling to promote individual responsibility. It also restricts consumer choice on food consumption, mainly with carbs (Herbenick, James, Milton, & Cannon, 2018). Some ethical guidance provides frameworks on the development and implementation of policies in the field of obesity.

Healthcare practitioners should consider if the health of a child is being compromised by parental and societal influences. In the that case the child is at risk for obesity, the caregiver must be involved in treatment to help make healthy options available. Parents play a major role in their child’s nutritional habits and lifestyle choices (Watkins, & Jones, n.d.). If a child is at risk for developing childhood obesity, they are also at risk for developing other diseases later on in life (Watkins, & Jones, n.d.). While the media and society are ethically responsible for advertising unhealthy choices to children, parents ultimately remain accountable for a child developing childhood obesity (Watkins, & Jones, n.d.).

References

 

Herbenick, S. K., James, K., Milton, J., & Cannon, D. (n.d.). Effects of family nutrition and physical activity screening for obesity risk in school-age children. JOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN PEDIATRIC NURSING, 23(4). https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/jspn.12229

Watkins, F., & Jones, S. (n.d.). Reducing adult obesity in childhood: Parental influence on the food choices of children. HEALTH EDUCATION JOURNAL, 74(4), 473–484. https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0017896914544987