The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion

The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion

Introduction

According to CDC, appropriate monitoring of weight to establish, underweight, normal weight, and excess weight should be done using BMI. The paper serves to discuss underweight and risk factors as mentioned in the case scenario, and describe additional information required to further assess the weight-related health issue. Also, discussion on sensitively gathering information with consideration of parents’ sensitivity is explored with strategies that could be employed to encourage parents to be proactive on child’s weight and health. The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion

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Explanation of Overweight

The 7-year-old Hispanic female patient in the case scenario is severely underweight implying that her weight is way too far below a BMI of 18.5 for her age (Moser et al., 2019). The problem of being underweight may be caused by genetics, malnutrition, physical activity, eating disorders, thyroid problems, and vitamin deficiencies. The family history of naturally low BMI may be associated with genetic factors that have physical characteristics running in patients’ families. Thyroid disorders may cause increased metabolism due to hormonal stimulation that may lead to the inability to gain adequate weight even taking high-energy diets. Excessive physical exercise may cause the burning of an extremely higher number of calories resulting in overall low weight (Kumar et al., 2019)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. Also, chronic diseases or physical illnesses way cause regular vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea that lead to the inability to gain weight. Also, mental illnesses such as eating disorders, depression, and anxiety are attributed to reduced body weight.

Additional Information Required to Assess Weight-Related Problem Further

The establishment of severe underweight as mentioned in the case scenario require an assessment of the child’s weight and height to determine her BMI. Secondly, assessment of the child’s nutritional status through checking her feeding chart to determine if she gets proper nutrition is essential to inform appropriate interventions. Her eating habits should be assessed to enable the provider to determine if the child gets appropriate nutrients (Rahman et al., 2021)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. Thirdly, an assessment of her level of physical activity should be done to determine if wasting due to excessive exercise is causing the problem. Finally, assessment of medical and mental problems that might cause the problem such as anxiety, vitamin D deficiency, and GIT problems is essential.

Relevant Risks to Scenario

The risks associated with being overweight include impaired growth, anemia, feeling fatigued throughout, increased frequency of sicknesses, osteoporosis, and problems with skin, hair, and bones. The risk of osteoporosis significantly increases in women who are underweight as bone development is impaired making them more brittle and prone to breaking. The child will be likely to develop skin, teeth, and hair problems as inadequate nutrients may lead to the manifestation of symptoms such as dental problems, dry skin, hair loss, and skin thinning. The frequency of becoming sick also increases as inadequate nutrients from the diet may weaken the immune system leading to the inability to fight infections. Also, the child is at risk of becoming fatigued easily as a lack of enough calories may cause an inability to maintain optimal health thus making the person tired easily (Kumar et al., 2019)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. The person may also have reduced blood count leading to anemia which may be manifested by fatigue, dizziness, and headache.

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History taking with Parent’s Sensitivities Being Considered

During the history taking and other patient assessments, it’s essential to provide emotional support and avoid eliciting reactions due to sensitive remarks that may turn the client down. The healthcare provider should strive to make the client comfortable during the assessment process thus gaining her trust for suitable healthcare outcomes (Rahman et al., 2021)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. The use of nonthreatening and friendly language is essential to lessen the client’s level of anxiety. The use of the below questions is helpful to take into consideration parent’s sensitivity during the assessment:

1. Does your daughter participate in exercises of any nature?
2. Can you please mention the previous three days’ meal diary?

• Are meals in the family shared or based on personal needs?

Strategies to Encourage Parent to Be Proactive on Child’s Weight and Health

To encourage the parents to be proactive on the child’s weight and overall status, it is important to educate them on proper nutrition, problems associated with undernutrition, and effective methods of managing the child. The parents should be encouraged to adopt a balanced diet and moderate physical activities for the child to ensure her nutritional status is optimal to keep appropriate weight. Their eating habits should be modified to suit their nutritional requirements. The treatment of any underlying cause of the problem should be prioritized to correct any concern causing the problem (Myatt et al., 2018)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. Also, routine monitoring through check-ups is necessary to track improvements or determine signs of further problems and potential health problems for prompt and timely management.

Conclusion

In summary, being underweight causes significant health concerns to affected individuals as the body may be unable to acquire essential nutrients required for building healthy skin, bones, and hair. Some individuals have medical illnesses or genetic backgrounds that prevent them from developing appropriate weight thus prompting them to seek medical attention. The risks associated with being overweight include impaired growth, anemia, feeling fatigued throughout, increased frequency of sicknesses, osteoporosis, and problems with skin, hair, and bones (Kumar et al., 2019)The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion. There is a need to educate parents on proper nutrition, problems associated with undernutrition, and effective methods of managing the child.

References

Kumar, R., Abbas, F., Mahmood, T., & Somrongthong, R. (2019). Prevalence and factors associated with underweight children: a population-based subnational analysis from Pakistan. BMJ Open, 9(7), e028972. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-028972

Moser, J. A. S., Galindo‐Fraga, A., Ortiz‐Hernández, A. A., Gu, W., Hunsberger, S., Galán‐Herrera, J. F., … & Cherpitel, D. E. N. (2019). Underweight, overweight, and obesity as independent risk factors for hospitalization in adults and children from influenza and other respiratory viruses. Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 13(1), 3-9.

Myatt, M., Khara, T., Schoenbuchner, S., Pietzsch, S., Dolan, C., Lelijveld, N., & Briend, A. (2018). Children who are both wasted and stunted are also underweight and have a high risk of death: descriptive epidemiology of multiple anthropometric deficits using data from 51 countries. Archives of Public Health, 76(1), 1-11. The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion

Rahman, S. J., Ahmed, N. F., Abedin, M. M., Ahammed, B., Ali, M., Rahman, M. J., & Maniruzzaman, M. (2021). Investigate the risk factors of stunting, wasting, and underweight among under-five Bangladeshi children and its prediction based on a machine learning approach. PloS one, 16(6), e0253172. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253172

Scenario-Child health case: 7 year old severely underweight Hispanic female in 2nd grade who lives with her overweight mom during the week and her normal weight father on the weekends.
Include the following:

~An explanation of the health issues and risks that are relevant to the child you were assigned.
~Describe additional information you would need in order to further assess his or her weight-related health.
~Identify and describe any risks and consider what further information you would need to gain a full understanding of the child’s health. Think about how you could gather this information in a sensitive fashion.
~Taking into account the parents’ and caregivers’ potential sensitivities, list at least three specific questions you would ask about the child to gather more information.
~Provide at least two strategies you could employ to encourage the parents or caregivers to be proactive about their child’s health and weight. The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion

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Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The College of Nursing Writing Template with Instructions provided at the Walden Writing Center offers an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting The Underweight Health Concerns Discussion