Correlation Between Maternal Smoking And Overweight Among School Aged Children

Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% .

This research consisted of key informants and general informants. These general informants were leaders in the community, granny midwives and African American and European American health care professionals. These general informants came from the clinics and hospitals where key informants were from. The key informants from each region were women who were either pregnant or had a baby within in a year preceding the study. (Marjorie Morgan, 1996)

Obesity, or being overweight, is a common problem today. Walk down any street in America and a large majority of people seen will be overweight or obese. Obesity is determined by a measure of body mass index (BMI), which is an indicator of fat content in the body. The BMI score can be obtained by dividing weight in pounds (multiplied by 703) by height in inches squared. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight while a BMI of 30 or more indicates that one is obese. Being overweight affects nearly one third of the population of the United States, with another one third obese, and a portion of those are considered morbidly obese (a BMI of 40 or more). This statistic includes adults, adolescents, and school-aged children. Glassman, Glassman,

While evaluating and analyzing the issue of smoking, various models and systems could be used. Healthy People 2020 use information analyzed from national census data of events such as the National Vital Statistics System. It also uses data from nationally representative sample surveys for example the National Health Interview survey. Data on the relationship between maternal behavior and birth weight, maternal and child health and vital statistics derived from The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAM) can also be

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the BMI of an overweight child is at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile.

Although laws have been implemented to fight this disease, new legislations are still been negotiated with different ways of trying to rectify the issue. Despite these rules and regulations, childhood obesity continues to plague the society. According to Hajian-Tilaki et al. (2011), the current approach in determining the presence of obesity is the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated by using the height and weight to determine if an individual is overweight or obese. In the case of a child, an age and weight specific BMI is used to determine their weight status. This is required because children’s body composition varies as they get older and it also varies between boys and girls. A child with a BMI at or over the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for a child of the same age and sex is considered overweight. If the child has a BMI that is over the 95th percentile for a child within the same category is considered obese (Hajian-Tilaki et al., 2011). The authors also stated that males were more at risk than female in developing childhood obesity in the region of Babol. Furthermore, Hajian-Tilaki et al. mentioned a few contributing dynamics that may lead to obesity, such as genetic and metabolic factors, lack of physical activities, unhealthy eating habits, and socioeconomic standards. With all said and done, the goal of eradicating childhood obesity is still been

The issue I have been exploring in my blog is childhood overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity can be defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2006). BMI is a widely accepted measure used to determine overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. According to the Australian Government Department of Health website, BMI is determined by comparing calculated (weight/ height2) against the relevant age and sex of the child/adolescent (Department of Health, 2009). Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Growth Charts, often used in health care settings, are used to determine the corresponding BMI-for-age and sex percentile.

Corresponding to other controversies, there are factors that will pay a role in whether mothers will decide to smoke or not. Mothers who work at a job like fast food or a factory are five times more likely to smoke than mothers who have a job like nurses or people who work in an office. Likewise, teen mothers who are in school and working are six times more likely to smoke than a mother over the age of 35. Regardless the age of the mother, smoking will still have the devastating effects on the baby. Although, there are factors that have a say in whether a mother will smoke or not, it is always a choice.

Unfortunately, there is no uniform definition of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has been variously described by absolute weight , triceps skinfolds , weight-for-height percentiles, percent of ideal body weight and, most recently, by body mass index (BMI weight in kg=height in meters squared). Although these measures reflect slightly different aspects of body composition or body size, they are moderately well correlated with body fat, even in growing children. In addition to the lack of consistency in the anthropometric measure , the degree of obesity varies from study to study; however, for the majority of studies, a BMI greater than either the 85th or 95th percentile, or a weight-for-height greater than 120% of ideal was considered obese.

     Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California assessed risk factors for becoming overweight during childhood. A group of 150 children and their parents participated in the study, which began within days of birth and continued for 9.5 years. Researchers in the study collected information about each

Participants: The participants will be two hundred and fifty mother child dyads (250 moms, 250 babies). The clinical sample will be recruited from an area that is a high-risk environment for a child. Risk factors include, socioeconomic status, low educational level and chaotic living conditions. The reasoning for this is because, as mentioned previously, around 85% of children from this type of community

Ethnicities that are heavily influenced by culture can have an effect on the outlook of their children’s weight. It is evident that there is a certain aesthetic that some ethnicities tend to lean towards when it comes to body image. They may not feel concerned with an overweight child because their culture prefers their children with more fat on their bodies. The Maternal and Child Health

Smoking during pregnancy is associated with many adverse outcomes for children as well as negative consequences for child health and development. Maternal smoking late in pregnancy reduces birth weight and size. Babies that are born to habitual smokers "weigh, on average, about 9 oz. less, and are shorter both at birth and in the years to come" (Berger 115). Nicotine is the addictive ingredient in cigarettes and breaking that habit can be nearly impossible for some women. What is the acceptable way for her to stop smoking? It's my opinion a woman needs to gather all of the information she can and then discuss her options

O’Byrne, Haddock, Poston, and Mid America Heart Institute (2002) investigated whether parenting style was a risk factor of smoking initiation and experimentation among adolescents and whether there was a relationship between parenting style and readiness to quit, and nicotine dependence among smokers. O’Byrne et al. (2002) defined current smokers as those who smoke regularly, experimenters as individuals who have smoked on one or two occasions, but have not smoked in the past month. Initiated smokers were considered both current smokers and individuals who smoked regularly in the past and then quit. Readiness to quit was categorized into four stages: precontemplation, for those who had no intent on quitting, contemplation, for those who may quit but not within the next 6 months, preparation, for those who will quit within the next 6 months and action, for those who will quit next month. Parenting style was measure by the Family of Origin Scale (FOS) which measured family intimacy and autonomy. This scale

Obesity is a growing problem among U.S. children. In 1994, one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 was overweight. This is double the rate of 30 years ago (National Center for Health Statistics, 1999). This adverse trend has potentially profound effects on children's health, including their long-term health. The terms "obese" and "overweight" often are used interchangeably. Technically, "obesity" is the upper end of "overweight." Obesity is clinically diagnosed as: greater than 90th percentile for weight for height; or greater than or equal to the 95th percentile Body Mass Index (BMI), age and sex specific. The gold standard is becoming the BMI, since this is also used