Parental Education on Healthy Eating Habits and Lifestyle Modifications

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project at El Rio Congress was to provide parents of school age children, ages 6-11 years, with evidence-based education regarding obesity, healthy eating habits, and lifestyle modifications to promote a healthy weight throughout childhood and adolescence. Background: The National Institute of Health (NIH) designated obesity as a chronic disease in 1998. Obesity increases an individual’s risk for future chronic health conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, all of which can result in an increase in morbidity and mortality in obese persons. Obese children are at risk for physical comorbidities including heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cancer, as well as a negative impact on their mental and emotional wellbeing. Methods: This DNP project utilized a quantitative, quasi-experimental design. The QI project was implemented with a singular group and included an educational session on pediatric obesity combined with pre-educational and post-educational surveys. The pre-educational/post-educational survey was given to assess knowledge gained from the presentation on the topic of pediatric obesity. Results: A total of 7eligible parents participated in the educational session and filled out a pre- and post-educational survey. The knowledge-based questions comparing pre- and post-educational knowledge had a p-value of .0037, which is statistically significant (p<.05). The mean score of the pre-educational survey was 2.85 (47%), and the post-educational survey score was 5.28 (88%). The difference in the mean scores showed an increase of 41% between the pre-educational survey scores and the post-educational survey scores. Conclusions: Findings of this project correlate with evidence-based literature showing the need for continuous follow up and management of obesity risk factors during well child checks (WCC) in the outpatient primary care setting. Further research is needed on the long-term effectiveness of parental nutrition and lifestyle education and the impacts on a child’s health and wellbeing.