The Weight of a Healthy Home: Early Screening for Childhood Obesity Risk

Purpose Despite the Healthy People 2020 target of 14.5%, the California obesity prevalence among low-income children ages 2 to 19 was 21% in 2010. An obesogenic home environment is a major contributor to overeating and sedentariness during this phase of development as children have less autonomy and are influenced by family environmental cues. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to implement a screening tool at a low socioeconomic elementary school clinic to identify children at risk of developing obesity and provide standardization for practitioners on educating parents regarding child obesity risk factors. The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) screening tool was completed by parents at all visits of school aged children 4 to 11 years old. The nurse practitioner (NP) provided parents with education regarding healthy home practices based on American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations. Conclusion Instituting the practice change helped to identify children at risk of becoming overweight or obese, and allowed for anticipatory guidance by the NP to increase awareness of parental influence as role models for healthy lifestyle behaviors. Parents who receive education on healthy home environmental strategies showed improvement in modifying home behaviors to reflect recommendations by the AAP. Practice Implications Implementation of the FNPA tool at a school based clinic is a feasible opportunity to identify children at risk for obesity. Continuing to educate parents about home risk factors is key in the primary and secondary prevention efforts against obesity