Competency
Analyze the influence of cultural, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors on public health.
Scenario
As a public health nurse at a community clinic, your supervisor has asked you to research and examine childhood obesity in the community. You have been asked to create a visual concept map to be shared during a staff meeting to illustrate your findings on the cultural, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors that are contributing to childhood obesity as well as determining how the community clinic can promote healthy behaviors to address childhood obesity.
Instructions
Create a visual concept map on child obesity and the factors influencing childhood obesity that:
Identifies a specific community to research and provides comprehensive statistical data on childhood obesity in the selected community. (Any community in Florida).
Detailed analysis of the factors that influence childhood obesity with comprehensive information on each factor: cultural factors, socioeconomic factors, and behavioral factors.
Illustrates the connection between childhood obesity, behavior, culture, and socioeconomic status, with comprehensive example(s).
Describes how the promotion of health behaviors will help to reduce and ultimately eliminate childhood obesity, with comprehensive example(s).
Explains ways the public health nurse can support healthy behaviors while responding to the diverse needs in the community.
Provides stated ideas with professional language and attribution for credible sources with correct APA citation, spelling, and grammar in the visual concept map.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
Childhood obesity is a growing concern in many communities, including Florida. As a public health nurse at a community clinic, it is important to understand the cultural, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors that influence this issue. This visual concept map will outline the factors contributing to childhood obesity in a specific community in Florida and how the community clinic can promote healthy behaviors to address this issue.
Answer:
The selected community to research for this visual concept map is Miami-Dade County. According to the Florida Department of Health, in Miami-Dade County, the prevalence of childhood obesity among kindergarteners has steadily increased from 13.5% in 2006-2007 to 16.7% in 2018-2019. Among middle school students, the prevalence of childhood obesity increased from 14.2% to 18.7% during the same period.
Cultural factors that contribute to childhood obesity in Miami-Dade County include the prevalence of fast food restaurants, traditional diets, and body image perceptions. Socioeconomic factors that affect childhood obesity include poverty, lack of access to healthy food options, and limited physical activity. Behavioral factors such as sedentary behaviors and lack of exercise also contribute to childhood obesity in this community.
Childhood obesity in Miami-Dade County is connected to behavior, culture, and socioeconomic status. For example, children from low-income families may have limited access to healthy food or be unable to afford extracurricular activities. In contrast, children from affluent families may have more opportunities but may also be influenced by unhealthy cultural beliefs about body image.
To address childhood obesity, the community clinic can promote healthy behaviors by providing nutrition education, increasing access to healthy food options, and promoting physical activity through community programs and partnerships with schools and local organizations. For example, the clinic can organize healthy cooking classes or partner with farmers’ markets to increase access to fresh produce.
Public health nurses can support healthy behaviors while responding to the diverse needs in the community by working with local organizations and community leaders to understand cultural beliefs and develop programs that are culturally sensitive. They can also provide individualized counseling for families to help them make healthy choices and manage childhood obesity.
Sources:
Florida Department of Health. (2021). Childhood obesity surveillance data. Retrieved from
Rippe, J. M., & Hess, J. M. (2017). The role of cultural factors in childhood obesity. The Journal of Pediatrics, 180, 29-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.07.003
World Health Organization. (2022). Childhood overweight and obesity. Retrieved from
