- NURS 610 Assignment 3.1 Health Promotion Obesity Plan
Jayraj Mehta
The BMI-for-age percentile of Jessica can be calculated using the CDC calculator. What does this tell you about Jessica’s weight?
Jessica has BMI of 17.96 that falls on the > 95 th percentile implying that she is obese. High consumption of fast food, high levels of sweeter juice, and large portions, 8-10 hours screen time and immobility are the reasons why this is the case. Of concern is the early detection of the high blood pressure. Stressful pandemic routine in the family is one of the factors. The purpose is not to undertake any form of restrictive dieting but rather to employ the systematic lifestyle change to improve her nutrition, become more active and slow down her weight gain rate to allow her to become a healthy weight.
What are the calorie recommendations for Jessica per day, given her activity level?
The amount of calories per day that Jessica approximated to maintain weight is 1,200-1400 calories per day on the basis of her being sedentary (8-10 hours of screen time). To support healthy growth and minimize weight gain, 1,200 calories are a standard starting point of direction with the emphasis on food rich in nutrients and its budget-friendliness (Contreras et al., 2024).
What are the calories of a 10-piece chicken nugget meal with large fries and a Coke?
A typical 10-piece meal of chicken McNuggets at McDonalds (large fries and large Coca-Cola meal) contains approximately 1,350 calories. This single meal contains at least a day of the amounts of calories Jessica is expected to contain.
Go to My Plate Plan.(https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-plan) Select Start. Enter the information for Jessica and select Calculate food plan. What are the recommended servings for Jessica for each of the following: Fruit, Protein, Vegetables, Dairy, and Grains?
Fruit
Protein
Vegetables Dairy
Grains
The actions of Jessica are abhorrently out of the line with the national standards. She consumes fast food 4 or more times/week as opposed to once in a while as advised. Her intake of juice (5 + times/week) is way more than recommended to reduce the number of sugary beverages. She is consuming very little vegetables (only a few times a carrot) in comparison to the daily 1.5 cups of vegetables. Her breakfast (Pop-Tarts) is processed and large (e.g., half a pizza) which does not comply with the advice of whole grains and lean proteins and appropriate portion sizes in accordance with her age.
Analyze Jessica’s eating habits and compare them to the national recommendations. Be specific.
What is Jessica’s current activity status? Compare what is recommended to what she is doing.
The situation of Jessica is inactive since she spends 8-10 hours daily before the display and does not have any structured activity (Muppalla et al., 2023). This is very contrary to the national guideline of at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity of a day among the children of her age.
What is the daily recommended TV/screen time for a child her age? Compare what is recommended to what she is doing.
Not more than 1 hour of superior quality programming should be taken as maximum screen time in a 7 year old child (Muppalla et al., 2023). The current screen time of Jessica 8- 10 hours/ day is 8-10 times that of this recommendation.
Discuss how you would start a conversation with Jessica and her mother regarding her weight gain, and how you would engage the family in making lifestyle changes that could benefit Jessica.
The first step that I would take would be a sympathetic (non-judgmental) intro: I have looked at Jessica growth chart, and I know that she has already put on more weight than she is supposed to have this year. This has been a challenge to many families during COVID and I would like to assist us to collaboratively develop a plan.
They would be attracted through the use of motivational interviewing:
The framework of the SMART goals would assist me in collaborating with one or two small changes that can be achieved at the very beginning. Examples: 5 days per week is better than juice: How about we have a juice-only week this week, or 30 minutes of screen time is better than juice: After 30 minutes of screen time we will have a dance party. This makes the goals specific, measurable and time bound, which increases the chances of success and building of confidence.
Check on their case: You have got such a schedule. It is, of course, understandable that fast food and screen time became the least harmful.
Should there be an Emergency involving Nutrition (& Meal Planning): MyPlate App (or the USDA). It provides a simple and visual teaching of how to create a healthy plate including all groups of foods, not similar to counting calories. It features kid friendly recipes, tips as well (Wansink & Wansink, 2022).
Using family activity GoNoodle. The use of short videos by switching the screen time into an active one, making use of videos that were not previously used, caught the attention of the kids as they ran around the house. Their targeted basement play would be perfect in it and it would meet their need of convenient and fun solutions.
Find out what motivates them: What do you wish Jessica to be more concerned with in regards to her health?
Empower them: Develop on their own idea (e.g., the basement play area) and work on one small goal at once, first, such as replacing juice with water or playing with active games at least 30 minutes a day.
How would you approach goal setting?
What exercise or nutritional apps do you think would be most helpful for this family?
With Nutrition: MyPlate App (by USDA). It provides straightforward and pictorial instructions on how to create balanced meals and healthy substitutes, and this is perfect to make improved fast-food and grocery selections (Wansink & Wansink, 2022).
For Activity: GoNoodle. This application changes the screen time into meaningful time of sitting in front of the screen and watching captivating brief video that can make kids move around the house. It would fit their concept of a basement play space.
When do you want to reevaluate Jessica?
Follow-up Jessica in 3 months time to follow up progress and provide constant assistance. Signs of improvement: BMI percentile has leveled (no longer improving so quickly), the parents claim that she is drinking less juice/screen time and is more active, but not weighted.
In the absence of improvement: I would follow-up with an appointment to identify obstacles, make a referral to a pediatric dietitian to treat with special consideration, and possibly should screen comorbidities like dyslipidemia or high ALT in fatty liver disease.
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- Muppalla, K., Vuppalapati, S., Pulliahgaru, A. R., & Sreenivasulu, H. (2023, June 18). National Library of Medicine; Cureus. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10353947/
- Wansink, , & Wansink, A. (2022). MyPlate, half-plate, and no plate: How visual plate-related dietary benchmarks influence what food people serve. Cureus, 14(5), e25231. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.25231
NURS 610 Assignment 3.1 (Pediatric Growth Chart)
