In healthcare there are knowledge and practice deficits, due to the inability of mankind to retain all the ever-changing care information for every given scenario in patient care. Therefore, one must be able to search for the evidence-based practices for a given patient’s ailment. Clinical inquiry occurs from this knowledge deficit, and from this inquiry, one can develop clinical questions to guide in the search for the most recent, evidence-based practice recommendations. This process is done first by obtaining a knowledge base of a particular clinical situation, which is found by asking background questions. Then foreground questions are developed with specific details. From there, a clinical question can be formed using the PICOT format,
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This accounts for an estimated 12.7 million children and adolescents in the past 10 years who suffer from obesity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). Although there has been a decrease in childhood obesity in preschool-aged children, there has not been much improvement in children aged 6-19 years (Ogden et al., 2014). Childhood obesity can cause comorbidities in childhood that can increase the risk for chronic illness in adulthood, such as the following: hypertension, heart disease, insulin independent diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. When combined with these multiple comorbidities as well as alone, obesity can have a tremendous impact not only on a child’s physical wellbeing, but also on a child’s psychological wellbeing, such as depression and low self-reported quality of life (CDC, 2015). Not only is quality of life negatively impacted, but also the national healthcare resource and financial expenditure is affected. According to the American Heart Association (2013), overweight and obesity costs were estimated to be $46 million in medical expenses in just the adolescent cohort. Imagine the costs and quality of life when these children reach adulthood and suffer from additional comorbidities. Therefore, it is a duty of nurse practitioners to aid in the reduction of this epidemic that is affecting children worldwide. Many interventions targeted at the treatment of childhood obesity have been researched for evidence-based practice, but the epidemic still persists in
This accounts for an estimated 12.7 million children and adolescents in the past 10 years who suffer from obesity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). Although there has been a decrease in childhood obesity in preschool-aged children, there has not been much improvement in children aged 6-19 years (Ogden et al., 2014). Childhood obesity can cause comorbidities in childhood that can increase the risk for chronic illness in adulthood, such as the following: hypertension, heart disease, insulin independent diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. When combined with these multiple comorbidities as well as alone, obesity can have a tremendous impact not only on a child’s physical wellbeing, but also on a child’s psychological wellbeing, such as depression and low self-reported quality of life (CDC, 2015). Not only is quality of life negatively impacted, but also the national healthcare resource and financial expenditure is affected. According to the American Heart Association (2013), overweight and obesity costs were estimated to be $46 million in medical expenses in just the adolescent cohort. Imagine the costs and quality of life when these children reach adulthood and suffer from additional comorbidities. Therefore, it is a duty of nurse practitioners to aid in the reduction of this epidemic that is affecting children worldwide. Many interventions targeted at the treatment of childhood obesity have been researched for evidence-based practice, but the epidemic still persists in