scholarly journals Body Mass Index Screening and Follow-Up: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study of Pennsylvania School Nurses

10.2196/11619 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. e11619
Author(s):  
Erica Francis ◽  
Alicia Marie Hoke ◽  
Jennifer Lynn Kraschnewski
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Francis ◽  
Alicia Marie Hoke ◽  
Jennifer Lynn Kraschnewski

BACKGROUND Childhood overweight and obesity health concerns can affect a student’s academic performance, so it is important to identify resources for school nurses that would help to improve self-efficacy, knowledge, and confidence when approaching parents with sensitive weight-related information and influence overall obesity prevention efforts in the school setting. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to conduct a Pennsylvania (PA) state-wide 29-item survey addressing school nursing barriers and practices, supplementing information already known in this area. Although the survey covered a range of topics, the focus was body mass index (BMI) screening and its related practice within the schools. METHODS We conducted a state-wide Web-based survey of school nurses in PA to understand current areas of care, find ways to address child health through school BMI screenings and follow up, and identify current educational gaps to assist school nurses with providing whole child care within the realm of weight management. Chi-square test of independence was conducted to determine the relationship between BMI screening follow up and interest in a BMI toolkit. RESULTS Nurse participants (N=210), with a 42% (210/500) response rate, represented 208 school districts across PA. Participants were asked about their current process for notifying parents of BMI screening results. The majority (116/210, 55.2%) send a letter home in the mail, while others (62/210, 29.5%) send a letter home with students. A small number (8/210, 3.8%) said they did not notify parents altogether, and some (39/210, 18.6%) notify parents electronically. More than one-third (75/210, 35.7%) of nurses reported receiving BMI screening inquiries from parents; however, under half (35/75, 46.7%) of those respondents indicated they follow up with parents whose child screens overweight or obese. Overall, the vast majority (182/210, 86.7%) do not follow up with parents whose child screens overweight or obese. The majority (150/210, 71.4%) of the nurses responded they would benefit from a toolkit with resources to assist with communication with parents and children about BMI screenings. A significant association between respondent follow up and interest in a BMI toolkit was observed (P=.01). CONCLUSIONS Schools must start recognizing the role school nurses play to monitor and promote children’s health. This goal might include involving them in school-based preventive programs, empowering them to lead initiatives that support whole child health and ensuring opportunities for professional development of interest to them. Nonetheless, the first step in facilitating obesity prevention methods within schools is to provide school nurses with meaningful tools that help facilitate conversations with parents, guardians, and caregivers regarding their child’s weight status and health through a BMI screening toolkit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Resmiye Özdilek ◽  
Yılda Arzu Aba ◽  
Sena Dilek Aksoy ◽  
Bulat Aytek Şık ◽  
Yaşam Kemal Akpak

Objective: To investigate the adaptation of pregnant women to the recommended weight gain range according to body mass index (BMI) and to determine the factors affecting them. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in a university hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology unit (tertiary center) in Turkey. This study was conducted between March 2018 and August 2018 (6 months) in pregnant women. Pregnant women with chronic disease and receiving treatment during antenatal follow-up, with twin pregnancy, with a fetus with a congenital abnormality, and nutritional disturbance were excluded from the study. Eight hundred twelve pregnant women with normal antenatal follow-up and who volunteered to participate were included in the study. Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.66±5.05 years. The mean weight and BMI before pregnancy were near standard in all participants. The group with the highest rate of recommended weight gain according to BMI before pregnancy was the group with low weight pregnant women. The ideal weight gain rate in all groups was 32%. Conclusions: The groups with overweight and obese pregnant women according to BMI before pregnancy had the highest rates of weight gain, above the recommended limits. BMI before pregnancy directly affects weight gain during pregnancy and the importance of pre-pregnancy counseling and weight loss is emphasized once again. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.133 How to cite this:Ozdilek R, Aba YA, Aksoy SD, Sik BA, Akpak YK. The relationship between body mass index before pregnancy and the amount of weight that should be gained during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(5):---------.  doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.133 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Author(s):  
Ali Amiri ◽  
Skakiba Bakhtom ◽  
Sara Tarokh

Background: Employee examination is one of the requirements of the occupational health care system. The present study aimed to evaluate the current health status of the staff working in an Iranian gas company to prevent, follow-up, and treat the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on the data collected from health screening of 94 service personnel in one of the gas companies in Iran. Data were collected by the 4-sheet forms of occupational examinations containing the following information: demographic data, general health status (blood pressure, smoking, allergy history, surgery, occupational accidents, body mass index), cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal, clinical examination, paraclinical evaluations of the internal gland, cholesterol, triglycerides, liver enzymes, and hematopoietic system (CBC). Data were analyzed using SPSS 25. Results: All participants were male with an average (Standard Deviation) age and BMI of 42.96 ± 8.00 and26.83 ± 4.08, respectively. The participantschr('39') body mass index indicated that 45 staff (48.38%) were overweight and 15 individuals (16.12%) were in the range of obesity. The participants had history of smoking (22.3%), cholesterol above 200 (27.7%), and triglycerides above 300 (8/5%). The rate of hypermetropia, musculoskeletal disease, hypertension, high blood concentration and low blood platelets, hyperglycemia, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease were 25.80%, 24.5%, 9.6%, 56.4%, 7.4%, 1.1%, and 12.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Although the studied company has a yearly occupational medical examination, the workers have not been provided with a comprehensive report and appropriate feedback. Therefore, it is essential to follow up the health reports and examinations and refer the patients to the related physicians.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Tüngler ◽  
Sandra Van der Auwera ◽  
Katharina Wittfeld ◽  
Stefan Frenzel ◽  
Jan Terock ◽  
...  

AbstractEvidence from previous studies suggests that elevated body mass index (BMI) and genetic risk for obesity is associated with reduced brain volume, particularly in areas of reward-related cognition, e.g. the medial prefrontal cortex (AC-MPFC), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the striatum and the thalamus. However, only few studies examined the interplay between these factors in a joint approach. Moreover, previous findings are based on cross-sectional data. We investigated the longitudinal relationship between increased BMI, brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters and genetic risk scores in a cohort of n = 502 community-dwelling participants from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) with a mean follow-up-time of 4.9 years. We found that (1) increased BMI values at baseline were associated with decreased brain parameters at follow-up. These effects were particularly pronounced for the OFC and AC-MPFC. (2) The genetic predisposition for BMI had no effect on brain parameters at baseline or follow-up. (3) The interaction between the genetic score for BMI and brain parameters had no effect on BMI at baseline. Finding a significant impact of overweight, but not genetic predisposition for obesity on altered brain structure suggests that metabolic mechanisms may underlie the relationship between obesity and altered brain structure.


2019 ◽  
pp. 127-136
Author(s):  
Venti Agustina

Hipertensiadalah penyebab kematian utama di Indonesia. Kematian akibat hipertensi lebih banyak terjadi di perkotaan dibandingkan di desa. Tingginya kejadian hipertensi dipengaruhi oleh faktor yang dapat dikontrol (obesitas,berat badan lebih, konsumsi garam berlebih,aktivitas fisik rendah, perokok, dan konsumsi alkohol) dan faktor yang tidak dapat dikontrol (genetik, usia, dan jenis kelamin). Penelitian bertujuan memberikan gambarandistribusi tekanan darah dan indeks massa tubuh (IMT) pendudukperempuan di kota maupun di desa.Desain penelitian adalah deskriptif kuatitatif dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Data primer didapatkan melalui pengukuran tekanan darah, tinggi badan dan berat badan. Penelitian dilakukan di Desa Kutowinangun Kidul, Kecamatan Tingkir,Salatiga yang mewakili penduduk perempuan di perkotaan dan Desa Batur, Kecamatan Getasan, Kabupaten Semarangyang mewakili penduduk perempuan pedesaan. Adapun jumlah sampel masing-masing 66 respondendan 72responden. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kejadian penyakit hipertensi, resiko obese dan obese lebih didominasi oleh respondendi perkotaan dibandingkan di pedesaan dengan rentang usia di atas 46 tahun. Respondendi desa dengan indeks massa tubuh normal cenderung mengalami pre-hipertensi (8,3%) dan hipertensi stadium I (6,9%) sementararesponden dengan resiko obese dan obese cenderung mengalami hipertensi stadium I (1,4%).Respondendi kota dengan indeks massa tubuh normal cenderung mengalami pre hipertensi (6,06%), hipertensi stadium I (4,5%) dan II (7,5%). Responden dengan resiko obese cenderung mengalami hipertensi stadium I (4,5%), dan responden dengan obese I dan II cenderung mengalami pre-hipertensi (4,5%).   Hypertension is the leading cause of death in Indonesia. Deaths due to hypertension are more common in urban areas than in villages. The high incidence of hypertension is influenced by factors that can be controlled (obesity, overweight, excessive salt consumption, low physical activity, smokers, and alcohol consumption) and factors that cannot be controlled (genetic, age, and sex). The study aimed to provide an overview of blood pressure distribution and body mass index (BMI) of female residents in cities and villages. The study design was descriptive quantitative with a cross sectional approach. Primary data was obtained through measurements of blood pressure, height and weight. The study was conducted in Kutowinangun Kidul Village, Tingkir Subdistrict, Salatiga representing women in urban areas and Batur Village, Getasan Subdistrict, Semarang Regency, representing rural women. The number of samples was 66 respondents and 72 respondents respectively. The results showed that the incidence of hypertension, the risk of obese and obese was more dominated by respondents in urban areas than in rural areas with ages above 46 years. Respondents in villages with normal body mass index tended to experience pre-hypertension (8.3%) and stage I hypertension (6.9%) while respondents with obese and obese risk tended to experience stage I hypertension (1.4%). Respondents in cities with normal body mass index tended to experience pre-hypertension (6.06%), stage I hypertension (4.5%) and II (7.5%). Respondents with obese risk tended to experience stage I hypertension (4.5%), and respondents with obese I and II tended to experience pre-hypertension (4.5%).


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