Innovative approaches can encourage healthy eating and activity in adolescents.
Takeaways:
- Nurses can help their adolescent patients with obesity by encouraging a healthy diet and greater activity
- Smartphone apps for diet and exercise tracking may be an effective tool to help adolescents with obesity lose weight.
- Recommend apps that are inexpensive and have high user ratings for ease of use and dependability.
By Julie Ludwig, MSN, RN, NP-C, and Christine Galluzzi, MSN, RN, APC-BC
Many teens with obesity go on to have obesity as adults. The ramifications of obesity are both physical and psychological, including metabolic conditions, sleep disorders, bullying, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. In addition, adolescents with obesity may experience increased school absenteeism and decreased scholastic performance. The result can be lower quality of life and limited life expectancy.
You can help your adolescent patients with obesity by encouraging a healthy diet and greater activity. (See Help young patients lose weight.) Engaging your patients in this effort may require some innovative interventions, including the use of technology … read more