Childhood Obesity Prevention: Infant Nutrition and Feeding Education
Abstract
Childhood obesity is a global concern, as of 2020 it affected 39 million children under the age of five. Obesity increases the risk of developing many health problems, including type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, asthma, sleep apnea, and others. Overweight and obese children are more likely to become obese adolescents and adults. Once obesity occurs, it is likely to persist as achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is more challenging. Many of the diseases related to obesity are now developing in children and adolescence.
Preventing obesity from occurring has the most promising effect on tackling the issue. Researchers have found that food preferences and eating patterns are developed in the first two years of life, therefore, in order to prevent obesity from occurring, focus should be placed on nutrition during infancy. This practice improvement project aspired to increase parental knowledge regarding healthy nutrition and feeding during infancy. An educational session was conducted during a childbirth preparation class. A post education survey showed that participants did report an increase in their knowledge regarding healthy nutrition and feeding during infancy.