Research Paper on Improving Physical Exercise Behavior in Children With Obesity

Introduction

The health issue of interest is physical inactivity and the need to use the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the health to improve exercise behavior in a target population. I am interested in improving physical exercise behavior in children with obesity. This is because childhood obesity has been linked to a sedentary lifestyle or lack of enough physical exercise (Cook, Li, & Heinrich, 2015; Lee et al., 2015). Consequently, childhood obesity rates can be reduced is through physical exercise (Nishtar, Gluckman, & Armstrong, 2016; Wijnhoven et al., 2015).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

It is crucial to understand the critical role played by physical activity in decreasing the prevalence of childhood obesity. In children with obesity, physical exercise improves body composition- through decreased fat mass and increased lean mass. It has also been reported that physical activity reduces inflammatory status, improves lipid metabolism, increases insulin sensitivity, increased resting metabolic rate, improved metabolic expenditure, and improved cardiorespiratory fitness (Pinto, Silva, Monteiro, de Resende, & Clemente, 2018). Past empirical studies support the need for increased physical activity as an evidence-based intervention for childhood obesity treatment and prevention.

Explanation of the Application of Constructs of the Transtheoretical Model of Change to Physical Exercise

The transtheoretical model of change is useful in understanding the stages people go through and the cognitive and behavioral process they employ to alter their health-related behaviors. This model is comprised of four constructs: the stages of change, decisional balance, processes of change, and self-efficacy. These constructs are measured using specific survey instruments discussed below.

This model explains that an individual goes through five stages of behavior change Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance (Boig et al., 2017; Kushida & Murayama, 2014; Sachdeva, 2019; Sudore et al., 2014). It has been reported that movement of an individual from one stage to another is not necessarily linearly process but may occur in a cyclical process- especially when an individual makes many attempts to change a behavior before realization of his or her health goals. The amount of progress a person makes following intervention is attributed to the stage they are found in at the beginning of treatment.

When applying the theoretical model of change behavior to physical behavior change, the first step involves assessment of participants' stages of change for exercise. This is accomplished by using a short-form stage of change questionnaire. This questionnaire asks the participants to select one of the five statements that best matches their current physical exercise behavior. Each of the statements in the questionnaire matches with one of the five stages of change (Velicer, Prochaska, Fava, Norman, & Redding, 1998). The next step involves determining respondents' decisional balance for exercise- assessment of the benefits and limitations associated with behavior change. Decisional balance for exercise is assessed using ten items that evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of routine exercise and the decision-making process associated with one's decision to engage in exercise or not (White, 2014).

After assessing respondents' decisional balance, their self-efficacy for exercise is determined. The term self-efficacy refers to a person's ability to accomplish a specific behavior in a particular situation (Alqurashi, 2016; Yu, Wang, Zhai, Dai, & Yang, 2015). In the context of physical exercise, self-efficacy refers to one's perception of his or her ability to execute physical activity behavior aimed at attaining an active lifestyle. Self-efficacy positively predicts physical activity (Barz et al., 2016). Self-efficacy for physical activity can be assessed using six statements that evaluate confidence in physical exercise situations a person is needed to cope with without relapse to a high-risk or unhealthy habit (White, 2014).

Lastly, individuals' physical activity behavior in the past week is assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short-form. Based on the responses to IPAQ, an individual can be categorized as either sitting, walking, having moderate physical activity, or having vigorous physical activity.

Justifications for the Use of the Transtheoretical Model of Change for Physical Exercise

There are various reasons why the transtheoretical model of change is appropriate for physical exercise. First, it has been reported to be useful in health promotion assessment (White, 2014). This is because using this theory, a researcher or a health professional can understand the stage of behavior change a person is, his or her decisional balance, self-efficacy, and processes of change. Consequently, a researcher or a health professional can devise effective intervention strategies aimed at accomplishing desired behavior change (White, 2014). Additionally, health programs developed using this model have been reported to have high participant retention rates and thus could help track participants' behavior change progress (White, 2014).

Two Possible Limitations of Applying the Transtheoretical Model of Change for Physical Exercise

One of the limitations of applying the transtheoretical model of change for physical exercise is that it ignores the social context in which behavior change takes place such as income and socio-economic status of an individual (LaMorte, 2019). For instance, even if an individual has a high self-efficacy for physical exercise, s/he may not participate in the gym if s/he cannot afford gym subscription fees. The second limitation of this model is that there is no clarity regarding the amount of time an individual take in every stage (LaMorte, 2019). Consequently, it is difficult to estimate the amount of time needed to achieve the desired behavior change.

References

Alqurashi, E. (2016). Self-efficacy in online learning environments: A literature review. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER), 9(1), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v9i1.9549

Barz, M., Lange, D., Parschau, L., Lonsdale, C., Knoll, N., & Schwarzer, R. (2016). Self-efficacy, planning, and preparatory behaviours as joint predictors of physical activity: A conditional process analysis. Psychology & Health, 31(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2015.1070157

Boig, E. A., de Nazelle, A., Gotschi, T., Gerike, R., Pierotti, L., Kahlmeier, S., ... Avila-Palencia, I. (2017). 2091-Behaviour change towards cycling in 7 case study cities. Journal of Transport & Health, 5, S103-S104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.05.263

Cook, B. G., Li, D., & Heinrich, K. M. (2015). Obesity, physical activity, and sedentary behavior of youth with learning disabilities and adhd. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(6), 563-576. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413518582

Kushida, O., & Murayama, N. (2014). Effects of environmental intervention in workplace cafeterias on vegetable consumption by male workers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 46(5), 350-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2014.05.001

LaMorte, W. W. (2019). The transtheoretical model(Stages of change). Retrieved from http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories6.html

Lee, S. T., Wong, J. E., Shanita, S. N., Ismail, M. N., Deurenberg, P., & Poh, B. K. (2015). Daily physical activity and screen time, but not other sedentary activities, are associated with measures of obesity during childhood. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(1), 146-161. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120100146

Nishtar, S., Gluckman, P., & Armstrong, T. (2016). Ending childhood obesity: A time for action. The Lancet, 387(10021), 825-827. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00140-9

Pinto, R. M., Silva, J. V. P., Monteiro, G. M. C., de Resende, R. C., & Clemente, R. D. (2018). Physical Activity: Benefits for Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity. J Child Obes S2-003.

Sachdeva, J. (2019). Stages of behavioral change and their effects. In A. Abd-Elsayed (Ed.), Pain: A Review Guide (pp. 379-380). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99124-5_83

Sudore, R. L., Knight, S. J., McMahan, R. D., Feuz, M., Farrell, D., Miao, Y., & Barnes, D. E. (2014). A novel website to prepare diverse older adults for decision making and advance care planning: A pilot study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 47(4), 674-686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.05.023

Velicer, W. F., Prochaska, J. O., Fava, J. L., Norman, G. J., & Redding, C. A. (1998). Smoking cessation and stress management: applications of the transtheoretical model. Homeostasis, 38, 216-233.

White, R. M. (2014). Application of the transtheoretical model: assessing exercise behavior in african americans in a church-based setting. Retrieved from https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2312/

Wijnhoven, T. M., Raaij, J. M. van, Yngve, A., Sjoberg, A., Kunesova, M., Duleva, V., ... Breda, J. (2015). WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: Health-risk behaviours on nutrition and physical activity in 6-9-year-old schoolchildren. Public Health Nutrition, 18(17), 3108-3124. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980015001937

Yu, X., Wang, P., Zhai, X., Dai, H., & Yang, Q. (2015). The effect of work stress on job burnout among teachers: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Social Indicators Research, 122(3), 701-708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0716-5