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Childhood Obesity In Canada

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The Lack of School Nurses in Canada: A Barrier to Reducing Adolescent Obesity

Childhood obesity is on the rise and a current issue for practicing nurses. Although nurses understand the serious health ramifications of obesity, when pressed for time this issue is often ignored (Lazarou & Kouta, 2010). In response to this trend, school nurses within the U.S. have formulated multiple obesity prevention strategies and implemented many obesity education programs (Shantz, 2011). In Canada, however, there are no school nurses; therefore, such programs cannot be initiated nor developed with the same consistency. Through examination of obesity statistics and current school nurse programs in the U.S., this paper questions why such a system has not been …show more content…

Lazarou & Kouta (2010) define obesity as “a chronic metabolic disease, considered to be one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease”, and state that hypertension, atherosclerosis and type two diabetes have also been shown to be more likely in people with obesity (p. 641). These adult health problems have now become commonplace amongst children and youth today (Tuckwood, 2012). With obesity being diagnosed at earlier ages, prevention becomes increasingly difficult; personal habits are harder to break, health risks are more serious, and the likelihood of living with obesity in adulthood is significantly higher. Fifty percent of children who are obese will become obese adults (Lazarou & Kouta, 2010). In order to grasp the relevancy of this health issue, an inquiry into Canadian data regarding adolescent obesity rates is in …show more content…

Established in 1968, NASN has over 15,000 members and four different publications, including the Journal of School Nursing (Shantz, 2011). Shantz (2011) claims that 75% of schools within the U.S. have full-time school nurses and they provide prevention strategies for obesity, make accurate referrals, and provide critical follow up to students. For example, in Florida in 2011, a countywide school nurse program was responsible for treating 45,000 injuries and advocating for 173,000 health screenings (Tuckwood,

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