Έρευνα σε παιδιατρικό πληθυσμό και στους γονείς των παιδιών για τη μελέτη των παραγόντων που σχετίζονται με την παιδική παχυσαρκία σε δημοτικά σχολεία της Κοζάνης (Master thesis)

Δεσποινιάδου, Ραφαηλία


The developed world is facing an obesity epidemic, which is likely to represent the most rapidly evolving health risk for men, women and children in both the US and most European countries. This makes obesity a global problem. Obesity can be prevented in pediatric settings through prevention programs and education about healthy lifestyles. The need for an interdisciplinary approach is imperative. 1.2 Purpose The purpose of this Master's Thesis is to initially gather information from children and their parents, about the children's usual actions or choices regarding factors such as eating habits, the degree and type of exercise chosen, social relationships, interpersonal relationships and other factors that influence or are influenced by childhood obesity. Additional objectives were to investigate the possible differentiation of parent-child responses, as well as to find a correlation of children's responses based on their own BMI. Finally, information was gathered on parents' opinions on specific questions about obesity management. 1.3 Methodology Initially, material related to the subject of the Master's Thesis was searched, both from the researcher's books and from international bibliography databases such as Pubmed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and official websites. It is worth mentioning that there was a large amount of information, as especially in recent years, but also in the past, the issue of childhood obesity has occupied researchers quite a bit. Despite the abundance of information, however, mainly more recent information was selected given that obesity data is constantly changing globally. Then the two questionnaires were designed in Google forms and their content and structure were specifically defined. The pilot application took place over two working days on May 9 and 10. It was attended by 16 people, primary school students and their parents. In the final questionnaire, deficiencies and omissions were filled in so that there would be no corresponding problems in the final survey. The first questionnaire concerning the children had 18 questions, while the second one concerning the views of the parents in relation to their children had 21. Then the research was carried out using the final questionnaire. After contacting the Directorate of Primary Education of Kozani and the three principals of the primary schools (8th, 9th and 12th Primary School of Kozani), 151 consent documents were given for the participation of children aged 11 and 12 in the research (5th and 6th Primary ). Of the 151 consent documents, 21 positive and 8 negative were received, while 122 were not returned to the researcher by the parents. Of the parents of the 21 children who initially agreed, 4 failed or refused along the way to take part in the research. After the 17 documents were collected within two weeks, an appointment was arranged between the researcher and the parents at a pediatric clinic after prior consultation with the doctor where the 34 questionnaires were given to each child and their parent and filled out on the spot. Finally, the children's weight and height were measured and recorded by the pediatrician in the presence of the researcher. The questionnaire data, after being recorded in writing, were digitized and entered into a database (Microsoft Excel). The data was then processed to draw conclusions. Then with the help of Descriptive Statistics (finding frequency, percentages and prevailing value) an analysis of these data was done. With the appropriate calculations based on the body mass index finding formula [(weight in kg)/(height in m)²] all the results for the children's BMI were recorded which were later used to correlate overweight with the answers given by the children. 1.4 Results The following results were also extracted from the research. The prevalence of overweight in the sample was 11.76% while there were no obese or extremely obese children in the sample. The majority of children as well as their parents consider that they exercise regularly, that they have a balanced diet without frequent consumption of junk food, that they do not spend too much time in front of the screen, that they have social skills and friends, they consider that their study performance it is relatively high and very high, a fact that their parents also confirm. Additionally, all children felt that a play-based exercise program would help their mental and physical health, which was confirmed by all parents, as well as that exercise helps with weight control. Most children of both sexes feel very good about themselves and this fact was confirmed by most parents. However, a significant number of children have periods in their lives when they do not feel good about themselves. With their body image, boys have higher rates of dissatisfaction than girls, while 20% of the children in the sample have fallen victim to bullying, with 13% not answering the question. The results showed that parents consider the amount of quality time they spend with their children to be average. If their child had a problem with their weight, half of the parents who answered the questionnaire would turn to a nutritionist. Only about one in three parents would turn to a pediatrician, while there are also parents who would not turn to a health professional if their child had a problem with their weight. The minority of parents consider that the pediatrician or physical therapist can implement an appropriate exercise program for children with obesity, while most parents consider nutritionists and trainers to be more suitable health professionals for the same issue. From the correlation of the high body mass index with the children's responses, it was found that in the total sample overweight children made up 11.76%, underweight children 41.18%, while 47.06% of the children had a normal weight. There were no overweight boys, while 20% of the girls were overweight. Regarding the children's performance in relation to their study, none of the overweight girls stated that they are doing very well, while on the contrary children of normal weight or underweight, respectively, on the same subject, 35.29% stated that they are doing very well . Among overweight children, 50% stated the below average option. 100% among the overweight children stated that they feel bad about themselves in general or sometimes while at the same time they have suffered some form of bullying. They did not accept to answer or answered that they are not satisfied with their body image in a percentage also 100%. It is surprising that among children of normal weight almost 4 in 10 children feel bad about themselves in general or sometimes while they have been bullied at the same rate. With a positive sign are the results of exercise since only 11.76% stated that they exercise 0 to 2 hours. Half of the overweight children exercise for very few hours (0-2), eat junk food more often, do not consider their diet to be balanced and 100% are more often in front of the screen. All overweight children reported the maximum (5-very much) on the sociability scale and none reported playing to a low degree (below 2 on a 5-point scale). Finally, the correlation of overweight with free time did not reach any particular conclusion as there were different answers from the children. 1.5 Conclusion From the analysis of the questionnaires, it emerged that the parents' answers to half of the questions were similar or the same as the children's, while the other half differed. The overweight children in our sample were only girls, they were all bullied, they did not report doing very well with their academic performance, they reported feeling bad about themselves in general or sometimes, and they did not accepted to answer or answered that they are not satisfied with their body image. Half of the overweight children exercise less than the rest of the children, eat junk food more often, do not consider their diet balanced and 100% are more often in front of the screen. However, all overweight children reported being very social.
Institution and School/Department of submitter: Σχολή Επιστημών Υγείας - Τμήμα Φυσικοθεραπείας
Subject classification: Παχυσαρκία στα παιδιά -- Ελλάδα -- Κοζάνη
Παιδιά σχολείου -- Ελλάδα -- Κοζάνη -- Στάσεις
Γονείς -- Ελλάδα -- Κοζάνη -- Στάσεις
Obesity in children -- Greece -- Kozani
School children -- Greece -- Kozani -- Attitudes
Parents -- Greece -- Kozani -- Attirudes
Keywords: Παιδική παχυσαρκία;Αίτια της παχυσαρκίας;Συνέπειες της παχυσαρκίας;Οφέλη άσκησης;Φυσικοθεραπεία;Child obesity;Causes of obesity;Obesity consequences;Benefits of physical exercice;Physiotherapy
Description: Μεταπτυχιακή εργασία - Σχολή Επιστημών Υγείας - Τμήμα Φυσικοθεραπείας, 2023 (α/α 14032)
URI: http://195.251.240.227/jspui/handle/123456789/16837
Appears in Collections:Μεταπτυχιακές Διατριβές

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