AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND COMPLIANCE OF PARENTS OF OBESE CHILDREN AT CHENNAI

Abstract

Obesity is easier to prevent than to treat, so prevention should focus in a large measure on parental education. This is the high time we the nurses should take action and pass on this message to the public to prevent the “Globesity”. Parents should be the main change mediator in weight related interventions, because their involvement is crucial for the induction of a healthy environment, modeling of healthy eating and activity patterns, and improvement in the child’s practices and weight status in the long term. The research approach used for the study was evaluative approach and true experimental design with two groups pretest-posttest design. Out of 200 samples, 100 samples to study group and 100 samples to control group were allotted randomly through lottery method. The IEC interventions were given only to study group on childhood obesity on one-to-one basis with the help of laptop power point presentation at the respective houses of the mothers. As a consequence of the rising incidence of obesity, and concern about the long-term implications for population health and the impact of the obesity epidemic on healthcare systems, there has been an increased focus internationally on the prevention of obesity.