การเสริมสร้างพลังอำนาจทางสุขภาพในเด็กโรคอ้วน

Health Empowerment in Obese Children

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Childhood obesity has been increasing and becoming an important health problem in Thailand. The childhood obesity is one of the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases that lead to short and long-term physiological, psychological and social health problems. The causes of childhood obesity include a combination of complex factors such as genetics, children, and environmental factors. These children eat high calorie food but less of physical activity and exercise which leads to collect excess fat in their body. Fortunately, the childhood obesity can be controlled. Nurses can play an important role in health promotion to empower obese children, families, and communities to alter conditions that affect their health. The empowerment help increase abilities and capacity of children and their families to be able to provide proper management of eating habits and physical activity behavior modification that is necessary for efficiently controlling body weights and preventing complications. Body weight of the children should be periodically monitored with follow-up care.

The purpose of this article is to present both childhood obesity and health empowerment. For the childhood obesity, its definition, situations, criteria assessments, effects, causes and risk factors related to childhood obesity were mainly focused. For the health empowerment, not only were the definition, importance, concepts, and factors presented, but the nurse’s roles, program and the process outcomes of health empowerment of obese children were also illustrated. Finally, the health empowerment applied by nurses and other related caregivers can be used as a guidelines that were important to control health behaviors of obese children. Normal weight of these children was desirable to improve better quality of life of these children in the future.