Impact of Early Healthy Eating on Child Development

Introduction

Healthy eating from an early age is a subject that has attracted studies to examine the various issues associated with healthy living. A healthy and balanced diet from childhood provides the necessary nutrients for the growth of the children. On the other hand, poor dieting habits and unhealthy lifestyle results in complications on the health of children, some which have lifetime impacts on the children as they grow to adolescence and adulthood. According to McSweeney et al (2016) the pre-school stage of children are the crucial targets for implementation of a healthy eating program in order to prevent chronic conditions such as obesity, one of the major lifestyle diseases in the world. Furthermore, Golthorpe et al (2018) the prevalence of obesity have significantly increased with children too being affected. Obesity develops from unhealthy eating behaviour and the condition has potential of persisting through the lifetime of the persons affected. Unhealthy eating habits are also associated with mental illness and children too can be affected. It is therefore prudent to explore the unhealthy eating habits of the children and understand the impacts of unhealthy diet from an early age to adulthood. Considering the prevalence of lifestyle conditions such as obnesity and the risks for other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, all stemming from an unhealthy eating habit and the fact that children as potentially affected by the unhealthy eating practices, there is the need to educate the parents, teachers and childcare service providers on promoting healthy feeding habits. healthcare dissertation help can provide valuable insights into effective strategies for addressing these issues. Parents, teachers and childcare service providers are in close contact with children from an early age and play a role in determining their diet and feeding habits.

This study provides an in-depth discussion of healthy eating from an early age and its application in the family, school and child care setting. Additionally, the study also explores the resource that guides information delivery, an action plan for implementation of healthy eating and a reflection using the Gibbs model. To achieve this, the study will explore relevant scholarly works that will build the theoretical framework and inform the action plan for the study.

Rationale

The importance of promoting healthy eating is embedded in the available statistics of the health complications grappling people from childhood as they grow to become adults. Estimates in 2013 indicated that the number of overweight children under the age of 5 years was approximately 42 million (McSweeney et al. 2016). In the UK, approximately 22.5% of children start school overweight or obese with the condition being more prevalent in children from low socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic minority groupings living in the UK (McSweeney et al 2016). The condition of obesity has been associated with long term health complications including cardiovascular diseases, gall bladder disease, diabetes, and some cancer.

In a similar way, estimates of mental health in children have also presented puzzling realities to the necessity of cultivating healthy eating behaviours from the early childhood stage (Laitinen et al 2013). Attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder has been established as one of the most diagnosed mental health disorders among children and adolescents (Massin et al 2007). Estimates point out that approximately 5% to 12% of children in the school-going age and adolescents experience attention and hyperactivity disorder (Wu et al 2016). This condition often persists to adulthood and is associated with impairment psychosocial, neurobehavioral and cognitive functioning of the children and adolescents (O’Neil et al 2014)

Obesity, overweight and attention-deficit and hypersensitivity disorders are some of the main conditions affecting children and adolescents and persist through adulthood (Paws et al 2015). These conditions are largely associated with an unhealthy diet and lifestyle behaviour exposed to children from an early stage as less than 5 years old. In this case, parents, family members, and educational institutions promote unhealthy eating behaviour and socialize their children to adopt these behaviours, exposing them to the lifestyle medical conditions (Dickens and Ogden 2014).

Bearing in mind the prevalence and the medical conditions associated with unhealthy eating, and the persistence of unhealthy dieting lifestyle from childhood to adulthood, there is a need to educate the children, parents, family members and teachers about healthy feeding and enhancing the practice of healthy lifestyle in order to reduce the prevalence of medical conditions associated with unhealthy lifestyles (PHE 2013).

In this study, a leaflet has been designed as a tool of education to enhance healthy eating behaviour among children in order to enable them to live healthy lifestyle through their adolescent and adulthood. This leaflet is a crucial resource since it details unhealthy eating habits and their associated effects on children. This is supported by literature from other sources making the recommendations from the leaflet being supported by evidence. This resource can be used as an educational tool for a variety of respondents including children, parents, and teachers in the school setting. This will aim at promoting healthy diet among children that will enhance their healthy living to their adulthood. Furthermore, the leaflet is designed in a simple language and in a size that will be clearly understood by the readers. To appeal to different readers, the leaflets combine figures and statistics that support the adoption of healthy eating from childhood to adulthood.

The influence of healthy eating from an early age to adulthood

Key facts:

Children In the early stage of life are socialized by their parents who largely determine their eating behaviours (Goldthorpe et al 2018)

The impacts of unhealthy eating behaviour manifest at an early stage of life. children under the age of 5 years have been affected (McSweeney 2016)

It is estimated that 22.5% of the children of school-going age are obese and overweight (McSweeney 2016).

Common conditions associated with unhealthy feeding behavior include obesity, overweight, mental health illness, cognitive development impairment and attention and hypersensitivity disorder (Wang 2008)

Scope of the condition

Unhealthy eating practices are widespread throughout the UK. People in low socio-economic classes are more affected.

Parents, schools and child care centres are the main contributors to the adoption of unhealthy eating habits among children

The availability of processed snacks and foods and the preference of such foods over the natural, nutritious alternatives increase the effects of unhealthy feeding among children, adolescents, and adults

The above graph presents statistics on the prevalence of child mortality among different countries. Most unhealthy eating practices contribute significantly to the statistics recorded.

Chronic diseases associated with unhealthy eating

Atherosclerosis is a condition linked with unhealthy feeding behavior and it develops in childhood with plaque developing and building up in arteries, narrowing them and impairing their functioning (Martial 2007)

Unhealthy eating from childhood also contributed to the development of mental conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (Pieter 2019)

Adopting healthy feeding habits

Healthy eating habits result in evasion of lifestyle and long term conditions like obesity and overweight and reduce the prevalence of other serious conditions like bipolar disorder (Pieter 2019)

Healthy eating entails following and consumption of balanced diet drawn from 5 food categories and safe practices such as proper preparation of meals (Goldthorpe et al 2018)

Limiting proteins, free sugars and saturated fats and increasing fibre diets, vegetables, and fruits with low-calorie levels are the starting points to building healthy eating habits

References:

-Goldthorpe, J., Nazneen, A., Calam, R, (2018) Providing Healthy Diets for Young Children: The Experience of Parents in a Uk Inner City. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well Being [online]. 13 [Accessed 28 October 2019).

-Hoekstra, P (2019) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: is there a connection with the immune system? Springer [online]. [Accessed 30 October 2019].

-Maren, J., Kolte, L, Brined, A, Friis, H., and Vibeke, C. (2014) The immune system in children with malnutrition-A systematic review. PLOS ONE [online]. 9 (8) [Accessed 28 October 2019].

-Martial, M, (2017) Atherosclerosis lifestyle risk factors in children with congenital heart disease. Sage [online]. [Accessed 30 October 2019].

-McSweeney, L., Rapley, T., Summerbell, C., Haigton, C. and Adamson, A. (2016) Perceptions of Nursery Staff and Parents Views of Healthy Eating Promotion in School Setting: An Exploratory Quality Study. Bmc Public Health [online]. [Accessed 28 October 2019].

-Wang, F, Veugelers, P.J. (2008) Self-esteem and Cognitive Development in the Era of the Childhood Obesity Epidemic. Wiley Online Library [online]. 9 (6) [Accessed 18 October 2019].

Action plan

Goal: Awareness and promoting healthy eating from early age settings.

Standard this goal relates to parents, schools and child care services.

Standard this goal relates to parents, schools and child care services.

This assignment will discuss the importance of healthy diet from childhood to long-term health. A wide range of evidence has been used to understand the link between diet and health for children. Studies have identified that parents play a crucial role in defining the eating behaviour of children. From an early age, parents introduce their children to feeding and decide on the eating regimen accorded to their children (Rytter et al 2014). From this stage, healthy eating is defined to children with the parents playing a crucial role in deciding whether the children will adopt healthy or unhealthy eating habits. From the prevalence statistics of the conditions such as obesity and overweight among children, it is clear that parents orient their children to unhealthy eating from an early stage and these behaviours are enforced in schools and childcare services (Wang and Veugelers 2008). Thus, the leaflet will be used to teach the significance of healthy eating habits from an early stage to adulthood. The study projects that in 1-3 months, the parents will have adopted healthy eating habits. And in 6 months to 1 year, the children would have been accustomed to healthy eating habits. In the long term, there will be a significant reduction in unhealthy eating habits.

Goal: To enforce healthy eating behaviour among children and adolescents

Standard this goal applies to children of school-going age and adolescents

Children from as early as school-going age grapple with different chronic lifestyle conditions occasioning from unhealthy eating behaviour. Some of this behaviour is imposed on them by parents while others are adopted on their own will of the children (Goldthorpe et al 2018). For instance, children are unknowingly exposed to passive smoking in the environments where cigarette smoking is a common occurrence. On the other hand, the same children, and adolescents are often attracted to high sugary content and fatty foods such as chips, and processed snacks which have been identified to have impact on the health of the children and adolescents. These unhealthy behaviours among children and adults, much as they persist to adulthood, come with accompanying chronic medical conditions (Laitinen et al 2013). Furthermore, when children become adults, they will likely socialize their children to adopting unhealthy eating behaviour.

Training children and adolescents on healthy eating behaviour using the leaflet designed in this study will foster the adoption of healthy behaviour among children and adolescents (PHE 2013). The short term goal of this education is to change the daily diet of children and adolescents, in favour of healthy eating. The intermediate goal of this education is to enhance healthy eating habits among children. In the long term, the children are expected to live a healthy lifestyle and when they become adults and parents in the future, they will socialize their children to lead healthy lifestyle. Thus, healthy eating will transition to the next generation.

Using the leaflet to educating the children will be enabled by the co-operation from the children, parents, schools and childcare settings in the education session. This will enhance the adoption of healthy eating from an early age and will transition to adulthood (Paes et Al 2015). However, the researcher projects that the goals of education will be hindered by the difficulties in implementing a daily healthy feeding diet. Families with low economic status face difficulties meeting their needs and may not afford to feed their children healthy and balanced diets (Dickens and Ogden 2014). To foster education using the leaflet resource, the researcher estimated potential cost implications for the production of resources and distribution of these leaflets to the subject to be £200. To effectively roll out the education, the researcher may seek assistance from colleagues to distribute leaflets and educate the subjects.

Reflection

Learning and teaching are crucial aspects in nursing practice to enhance the adherence by the parents, children and their mentors such as teachers and childcare providers to healthy eating behaviours in order to nurture healthy children and avoid the complications associated with unhealthy eating habits which have been described in this assignment. In this assignment, a leaflet was selected as the resource to be relied upon for information sharing and educating the affected parties on the need to enforce healthy eating habits, and how to achieve that.

Throughout the development of the leaflet, a theoretical model of reflection was relied upon to aid in the objective construction of a quality resource for learning purposes. This theoretical model is Gibbs reflective model, one of the widely used models of reflective teaching and learning. Gibbs model was developed by Professor Graham Gibbs and first published in 1988 to provide guidance to teaching and learning (Al-Jubouri and Al Jubouri 2019). The reflective model link theory and practice through activities commonly referred to as the Gibbs reflective cycle.

When developing a leaflet, there are two major steps that were involved; planning and Design. During the planning and design, the Gibbs model cycle was involved to aid in the effective development of leaflets.

Planning the leaflet

This was the initial phase that was undertaken during the leaflet development process. The process of planning the leaflet entailed numerous other activities that were undertaken in order to acquire the necessary materials for designing the leaflet. The bulk of the Gibbs reflective model activities were utilized at this stage. To begin with, the practitioner had to decide on the topic of the leaflet. A topic sentence serves as an informative statement on the nature, type, and objective of the resource. According to Gibbs model, the description is the initial phase of the process and entails painting a clear picture of the resource, learning of teaching encounters (Mulder 2018). The description of the study and the information required in the development of the leaflet was achieved in this stage.

Through the process of information gathering and drafting of the leaflet, there are emotions that were elicited, both from the experience of information gathering and from some of the revelations from the information that was sourced. For instance, information on child mortality and the statistics of the prevalence of child obesity elicited feelings of sadness and concern and increased the conviction to help ameliorate the condition through educating the parents, school teachers, and childcare service providers.

During planning the leaflet, the topic sentence was developed, images selected to be used in the leaflet as well as ideal words and phrases fitting the purpose of the research. Other activities during the planning phase included the gathering of information and facts about healthy eating from an early stage. This information gathered was then analysed, in line with Gibbs model of reflective process’ experience assessment and analysis phases. The experience assessment analysis phases in the Gibbs model is crucial as it aids in documenting the new knowledge acquired in the process of gathering facts, and information necessary for development of the resources (Johnson 2013). These phases also enable the practitioner to examine the quality of the materials sourced and identify information (if any) that may be missing from the leaflet.

During planning, decisions on the different fonts, heading, and layout of the leaflet were made. This is crucial since it gave the practitioner and mental picture of the leaflet prior to the actual design of the resource.

Designing the leaflet

The design phase of the resource entailed the actual development of the leaflet. This leaflet was designed using the Microsoft office word software where the leaflet page layout, font, and design were customized by the practitioner in a manner that is appealing and attractive to the eyes of the intended learner. The information was then keyed in through the text tables that were used in the leaflet and different fonts and colours were used to enhance the attractiveness of the leaflet. This design was guided by the conclusion and action plan phases of the Gibbs model of reflective learning and practice (Mulder 2018). After the information was gathered and evaluated in the first phase, the practitioner concluded that they met the threshold for designing a leaflet and decided to progress with the design of the resource. Thus, the practitioner developed a work plan that directed the design process, ensuring that the practitioner adopts a methodical approach in designing the resource to ensure that no information was left out.

However, during the planning and design of the leaflet, there was one key challenge and barrier encountered by the practitioner. The main challenge was designing an informative yet creative leaflet. Bearing in mind the practitioner had no prior experience in developing a leaflet it was quite a hurdle composing a plausible, informative and attractive leaflet. This was coupled with the key barrier encountered which was the level of advancement of the proposed leaflet bearing in mind that the same leaflet had to appeal to two broad categories of learners, that is parents and children or adolescents. These two groups possess peculiar differences in comprehension and tastes of the information that is perceived to be attractive.

Nevertheless, the practitioner depended on one key enabler and opportunity that were crucial in the successful design of the leaflet. The practitioner relied on the internet which offered a big opportunity to gain insights on the development of the leaflet. The internet hosts thousands of templates and samples of the leaflets as well as information on designing the leaflet. Such information was crucially utilized by the practitioner in designing a customized template. Additionally, the availability of the software such as Microsoft office word lightened up the work of designing the leaflet bearing in mind that it had easy to follow and customize prompts helpful in the exercise.

From this entire resource planning and design, the practitioner gained vital knowledge and believes that it will be crucial when confronted with similar tasks in the future. The leaflets will be designed much easier and with more quality. The practitioner also believes that this experience is crucial in the field of practice such that when confronted with topics such as healthy eating which affects many people, the practitioner will be in a position to design resources such as leaflets to help educate the people on the severity of the condition and how to manage such condition. This will be guided by the reflective practice theories such as Gibbs model that will be helpful in the development of the learning resource and equally in the reviewing the outcome of the learning session to establish whether the resource was useful in aiding education of the clients.

Conclusion

Healthy eating from an early age to adulthood is a crucial subject in the current age where reports have documented increasing cases of lifestyle conditions occasioning from poor dietary habits. Conditions such as obesity stem from excessive accumulation of weight and limit the child’s lifestyle. Additionally, other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases are linked to unhealthy feeding style. Furthermore, unhealthy eating and accompanying medical conditions affect children from both affluent and deprived backgrounds. This paper has discussed the aspect of healthy eating from an early age and the approach for healthy eating education to the children, parents, teachers and child care service providers who play a significant role in healthy eating. While there are a variety of teaching methods, the leaflets, such as the one used in this study, have been identified to be effective since they present both text and visual aspects of learning by the combination of carefully selected text illustrations supported by graphics.

This study has further identified that learning is crucial and reflective practice enables the trainer to evaluate the progress of the learning and develop a customized approach that will be beneficial to children, parents, and teachers involved in the learning process. It is crucial to mention that Gibbs's model of reflective practice has been discussed and identified to provide a crucial theoretical guide to reflections on the learning process and the accompanying experienced both form the perspective of the learner and the teacher. By understanding these perspectives, it becomes easier to design more engaging classes for future encounters. However, it should be emphasized that developing and implementing a learning process is not a walk in the park and thus the trainer should be prepared to face barriers and constraints such as funding the learning programs. Provided the subject of study touches on a crucial aspect of lifestyle that can affect many people, venturing into educating children and their families on healthy eating from an early age to adulthood is worthy venture.

References

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Laitinen, T.T., Pahkala, K., Venn, A., Woo, J.G., Oikonen, M., Dwyer, T., Mikkilä, V., Hutri-Kähönen, N., Smith, K.J., Gall, S.L. and Morrison, J.A., 2013. Childhood lifestyle and clinical determinants of adult ideal cardiovascular health: the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study, the childhood determinants of adult health study, the Princeton follow-up study. International journal of cardiology, 169(2), pp.126-132.

Maren, J., Kolte, L, Brined, A, Friis, H., and Vibeke, C. (2014) The immune system in children with malnutrition-A systematic review. PLOS ONE [online]. 9 (8) [Accessed 28 October 2019].

Martial, M, (2017) Atherosclerosis lifestyle risk factors in children with congenital heart disease. Sage [online]. [Accessed 30 October 2019].

Massin, M.M., Hövels-Gürich, H. and Seghaye, M.C., 2007. Atherosclerosis lifestyle risk factors in children with congenital heart disease. European journal of cardiovascular prevention & rehabilitation, 14(2), pp.349-351.

McSweeney, L.A., Rapley, T., Summerbell, C.D., Haighton, C.A. and Adamson, A.J., 2016. Perceptions of nursery staff and parent views of healthy eating promotion in preschool settings: an exploratory qualitative study. BMC public health, 16(1), p.841.

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