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Ricky, age 4 years, arrives in the clinic with his mother. Ricky lives with his mother and father, who both work full-time, and his infant sister. Their extended family lives in a different state more than 100 miles away. Both parents are of average height and in good health. Ricky’s mother mentions that Ricky often expresses frustration, particularly in regard to food. Conflict over food occurs every day. Mealtime is a battle to get him to eat, unless his mother feeds him. Ricky’s baby sister seems to tolerate all baby foods but requires her mother to spoon-feed. Ricky’s mother is quite frustrated and concerned that he will become malnourished.
Reflective Questions
1. What additional assessment information would you collect?
2. What questions would you ask, and how would you further explore this issue with the mother?
3. In what ways does the distance of the extended family influence this family’s approach to health promotion?
4. What factors would you consider to determine whether malnourishment is a factor in this family? Include references, citation format is APA.+500 words
Additional Assessment Information
Before exploring this issue any further, some additional assessment information should be collected to get a better understanding of Ricky’s situation. This includes asking the mother questions about his medical history (such as any chronic conditions or past illnesses) and any recent changes in health. It would also be important to gain an understanding of Ricky’s typical eating habits, such as what types of foods he usually eats, how much he usually eats at each meal, and if there have been any changes in appetite recently. Additionally, it would be useful to inquire about his sleeping patterns and activity level. Finally, questions should also be asked regarding nutrition knowledge within the family and whether they are aware of nutritional guidelines for children at Ricky’s age.
Exploration with the Mother
Once the necessary background information has been gathered through assessment, it is then appropriate to explore this issue further with Ricky’s mother. Questions can include why she believes that her son is expressing frustration over food everyday; what types of conflicts typically arise when trying to get him to eat; why she thinks that feeding him herself helps calm down these conflicts; how often does she feed him compared to other meals throughout the day; what strategies have been tried in the past for getting Ricky to eat independently; does anyone else help out during mealtimes besides her; does anyone else live in their home who could provide support during mealtimes? It would also be beneficial for her to discuss ways in which extended family involvement could aid them with meal times such as providing recipes or helping out on occasion during meals so that both parents don’t need to take turns all the time between working full-time and taking care of their infant daughter.
Influence on Health Promotion
The distance between extended family members influences this family’s approach towards health promotion because it limits their access to resources available from extended kin networks like sharing knowledge related nutrition guidelines or tips on healthy eating habits given different cultural backgrounds or contexts, discussing concerns related child’s physical development or having another parent present at meals times by providing relief from having two parents work full-time while taking care of an infant daughter can promote a healthier environment around meal times which ultimately leads positive outcomes on overall physical health especially for young children like Ricky .
Malnourishment Considerations
When determining whether malnourishment might be a factor within this family system one must consider many aspects including dietary intake pattern , height/weight percentiles , risk factors associated with poor nutrition , coexistence chronic condition(s) etc . In order evaluate these issues accurately conducting anthropometric measurements like height/weight is recommended along food frequency questionnaires , 24 hours recall intakes . These assessments measures give greater insight into caloric intakes , nutrient deficiency levels which may further inform potential causes behind inadequate growth/development among children age 4 years old and older .