Child Health Patterns

Children and young people’s health and development is closely linked to their dietary choice as they need the right amount of nutrients necessary to keep their energy and to maintain the body for growth, tissue repair, healthy skin, hair and teeth, red blood cells and strong immune system.

I completed the Denver II Developmental Screening on a five year old boy, initials B. F. The Denver II Developmental Screening test is designed to compare children’s performance on a selection of tasks in order to assess developmental problems and risk of developing these problems in the future. Nurses must be able to perform developmental screenings in order to identify factors that could hinder optimal health (Gaines, 2005, p. 522). Gaines, Jenkins & Ash (2005) recommend that health screening activities be integrated into nursing education to empower future nurses to provide health promotion services.

|Pattern of Health Perception and|Toddlers rely on their parents for|Preschoolers now have an interest of being curious |School age children perceive health as by germ theory,|

List two potential problems that a nurse may discover in an assessment of each age group.

earlier clinical interviews include the risk of leading the child to views he does not possess due to

Because school-aged children’s families are busy, they have more of a potential for skipped and/or missed meals, which leads to fast food intake. This places the child at risk for obesity and metabolic disorders. This again leads back to parenting. Education is important when it comes to nutrition.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in America. "the percentage of obese children doubling from 6.5% in 1980, to 17.0% in 2006. Weight, nutrition, and physical activity are the main components to a child’s overall health.”(1) “When parents become too busy to cook meals in their homes, children learn poor eating habits and develop into unhealthy eaters.”(1) They will take what they learned at home and apply it to anywhere else that they eat. For example a child that drinks milk at dinner and sits with their family at dinner when asked what they want to drink when they are at a friend’s home will ask for milk because the child would associate milk with dinner. Children cannot make healthy choices of their own they need to be guided so

​Parents must take proper care to ensure their child is receiving adequate nutrition every day, especially in combination with school or other day programs. The behavior and attitude of the parents have the greatest effect upon a child’s developing habits, especially as the amount of meals eaten together at home increases (Escobar, 1999). That being said, ensuring a child continues to eat healthily outside of the home can be a struggle without the support of a regulated school lunch

I was only able to determine the basic vital signs, height and weight. I know for a fact that there are several other screening tools and assessments that could have been conducted on this patient. I plan on researching pediatric patient assessment techniques using up to date clinical evidence. Although I do not have plans on specializing in pediatric nursing I understand the need to be able assess and provide care to all patients regardless of age.

In the case of examining toddlers the nurse must keep a minimum bodily interactions till such time the toddler is comfortable with the nurse. The nurse can begin communication with toddlers using toys like dolls and ask “What is your doll’s name or where does it hurt?” When communicating with older children, it is better if the parents are not present. Each child is different, therefore make an environment differently according to their age, physical and mental development and their behavior. When communicating with the child be precise and to the point and that too in simple and short sentences that he or she may understand. Heart and lung examination should be done in the beginning itself. If ever, a child to be restrained during the examination and assessment, the safety of the child is very important and the examination should be completed as fast as possible. Nurse must bear in mind that the growth measurements of children depend on the parent’s size and their racial and ethnic background. Cuffs for children are available and that should be used for taking blood pressure. It is better if the toddler is with their parents when examining and the nurse can request the parents to help the nurse in the process. Always compliment the good behavior of children and restrict their inappropriate behavior during the examination. It is advisable to

It is also pertinent that we modify our assessment techniques according to the age and developmental stage of the child patient, including the family to solidify trust and establish said therapeutic relationships (London, et al., 2017). Sophia is aged nine, Piaget philosophizes that at this age, children begin applying logic and reasoning to concrete events; and, begin to reason more accurately. We can assume that Sophia will be able to follow instructions, communicate her needs and emotions, and answer questions if we present them in an age appropriate manner (Berk,

Within this particular question I have chosen to examine my son, who is fourteen years of age and just beginning his freshman year of high school. In addition, also to be examined will be my daughter, who is seventeen (17) years of age and is just beginning her freshman year of college.

The aim of the presentation was to inform early years practitioners the importance of educating and constructing a long-term health eating habits. Our presentation briefly highlighted the topic’s history, the government and department of education’s participation in the significant of healthy eating. Also my part was to explain, the psychological cognitive biases routed into our evolutionally need for high calories food, which could stand the way of establishing health eating habits, plus methods to change those perceptions. Furthermore inform the five food groups and importance of using them to produce balance health diet. Finally, advantages and disadvantages on healthy eating and the significances of encouraging parent’s participation in long-term healthy eating habits for their children.

Parents are the role models of their children. Parents spend most time with their children under a normal circumstance; therefore they are the most influential figure in their childhood. According to the study from Healthy Day Reporter, “As if working mothers don't have enough to feel guilty about, a new study suggests that the more time they spend working, the heavier their children become.” (Behen, 2011, P.1) Parents need to spend more time with their kids to watch and teach them what to eat right. Good habits are easier to form while they are still young. More importantly, to educate them what a balanced diet is so that in the future when parents are around their children, they can trust them to make the right decision. One other very crucial aspect is the communication between parents and

Many programs and models help in indicating health conditions among various people. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health model (ICF) is an approach to identifying variables contributing to a person’s overall health. This model consists of health (condition, personal dimension, ({participation restriction, activity limitation, and body structure and function impairments}), and contextual factors ({personal and environmental factors}) (Abeysekara et al., 2014, p. 509). Even with programs that promote healthy eating habits among children and youth with special health care needs, parental feeding behaviors are a concern as well. The problem seems to be that weight related concerns develop among parent and child. Parents are oblivious to the fact when purchasing food, preparing food, pressuring the child to eat when not hungry, they are contributing to the problem at hand (Polfuss et al., 2017, p. 1087). Many parents focus more on appointments in order to help their child, they forget about healthy eating habits. After finishing a day full of appointments, parents feel they are putting a burden on their child when trying to engage them in physical activities. Instead they reward the child with movies, games, sweets, and rest. Giving parents insight on how to effectively encourage physical activity and helping to promote healthy dietary habits could be useful.