The case study for this assignment focuses on a 5-Year-old who is a severely underweight male with his normal weight adopted father and mother. The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the health issues and risks of the child with additional information needed for assessing the child’s weight-related health. The paper will also outline the three specific questions for gathering more patient information and two strategies to motivate the child’s parents to stay proactive about his health and weight.
Health Issues and Risks
The provided case scenario focuses on a five-year-old child. During this age, children have a faster growth rate, and thus nutrition is of great essence in enhancing improved growth and development. The child is reported to be underweight, a positive indicator that the child is not receiving appropriate enough nutrition. The Body Mass Index is a nutritional assessment tool which is of the essence in evaluating a child’s nutritional status (Hossain et al., 2023). The child provided in the scenario has several health concerns as he is at risk of developing malnutrition owing to his low body weight. Malnutrition at an early age impacts the child’s short and long-term physical and mental well-being, which may contribute to unwanted mortalities.
Malnutrition may also contribute to cognitive impairments, which may subject the child to delays in social development (Rahman et al., 2020). Moreover, the child’s underweight subjects the child to physical problems such as dry and scaly skin, thin hair, brittle bones, poor eyesight and dental problems (Rahman et al., 2020). Additionally, the prevailing underweight also affects the child’s body immunity and thus may subject him to frequent infections and opportunistic diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and other communicable diseases. The child is also at risk of developing anemia which may lead to low energy levels, hair loss, dizziness and heart problems. The consequential impact of the disease is a poor growth rate compared to his age, a health condition known as failure to thrive (Rahman et al., 2020).
Additional Information to Assess for the Child’s Weight-Related Health
Additional information is required to assess the child’s weight-related health. In most instances, severe underweight may occur as a result of genetic predisposition. The child provided in the scenario is adopted and thus needs to gather more information about his biological parents’ health history. There are also genetically predisposed diseases such as thyroid disorders, diabetes, HIV and cancer that, if not diagnosed on a timely basis, may subject the child to the current health status (Hossain et al., 2023). Notably, the child’s nutrition may also be influenced by other factors such as household food security, access to healthcare services, poverty and a healthy environment (Rahman et al., 2020). Notably, this illustrates the need to assess the current parent’s socioeconomic status to ascertain their ability to cater to the child’s basic needs, including nutrition.
Three Specific Questions to Gather More Information
Childhood malnutrition is a global health problem most affecting children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The three questions of relevancy based on the child’s current health status include: –
- How are the child’s feeding habits? Does he have any food allergies or impairments in appetite? The use of the question will help to gather relevant data to ascertain whether the child has poor feeding habits or any allergies which may limit the intake of essential dietary components.
- Does the child have any underlying health issues, and have you taken him to the hospital due to his current health status? The use of the question will help to assess whether the child has any underlying health conditions that may subject him to increased weight loss or poor weight gain. This will help also help to evaluate if the child has had frequent infections, which may also play a role in the increased weight loss.
- Please can you provide any information concerning the health status of the child’s biological parents and close relatives inclusive of their physical characteristics? The question will help to assess if the child’s current health status is due to genetic predispositions. This is based on the fact that some people are underweight genetically, and thus, the child’s current health status may be due to genetical predisposition,
Two Strategies for the Caregiver’s Motivation
The two strategies to employ in motivating the caregiver would include undertaking a detailed education session with the caregiver on the importance of improving the child’s nutritional health status. The education sessions will play a profound role as they will help to highlight the adverse impacts of malnutrition on the child’s overall health status. The education sessions will help to improve the caregiver’s health literacy on the disease to help her learn the disease-predisposing factors, adverse events, complications and effective preventive measures (Madzorera & Fawzi, 2020). Notably, the education sessions will focus on detailed nutritional guidance to ensure the caregiver provides the child with a balanced diet composed of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
The aim is to ensure the caregiver learns how to manage the patient’s health status and foster improved weight gain to prevent disease related complications. During the education sessions, the caregiver will be guided in developing the child’s dietary plan to ensure the child takes all the vital nutrients towards achieving improved health outcomes. The second initiative will involve enlightening the caregiver on the available government food programs and nutritional clinics to ensure the continuous monitoring of the child’s health status and provide the necessary therapy initiatives to improve his health outcomes (Rahman et al., 2020).
I will also enlighten the caregivers on programs such as Women-Infant-Child (WIC) and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure they access all the healthy foods they need to improve their child’s health status. Reassurance is importance in this patient care, and thus I will ensure that I reassure the parents that the child will be well if they adhere to the provided directives. The parents need to realize the need to book nutritional clinics within the nearest health facility to ensure close patient monitoring and access to multidisciplinary care by engaging the pediatrician, nurses, social worker and dietician to achieve optimal health outcomes for the child.
Conclusion
Underweight and malnutrition are among the leading causes of mortality in children aged five years and below. The onset of malnutrition serves as a predisposing factor to serious health problems owing to impaired body immunity. In achieving optimal health outcomes for the child, its important to access the predisposing factors and scheduling the child to a nutritional clinic for dietary guidance. The child should be enrolled into government nutritional programs to ensure improved access to dietary meals. There is also a need to undertake a multidisciplinary patient care to ensure close patient follow up by a pediatrician, dietician, physician, nurse and social worker. The move will help to ensure the care givers receive necessary guidance towards restoring the patient’s health status and preventing disease complications which may contribute to premature mortality.
References
Hossain, M. M., Abdulla, F., & Rahman, A. (2023). Prevalence and risk factors of underweight among under-5 children in Bangladesh: Evidence from a countrywide cross-sectional study. Plos One, 18(4), e0284797. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284797
Madzorera, I., & Fawzi, W. (2020). Women empowerment is central to addressing the double burden of malnutrition. EClinicalMedicine, 20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100286
Rahman, A., Ayb, M., & Ahsan, A. (2020). Association of Food Intake Patterns and Parents’ Educational Levels with Nutritional Statuses of School-Going Children (5-13 years old) in Rural Areas of Northern Bangladesh. Nutrition and Food Sciences Research, 7(4), 7-12. http://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.23830441.2020.7.4.2.9
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