Obesity in Hong Kong Chinese Preschool Children: Where Are All the Nurses?

We report an ethnographic study of 10 preschool children aged 2–6 years recruited from kindergartens in Hong Kong, 6 of whom were overweight or obese. Each was followed for 12–18 months. We confirmed previously described risk factors and showed how these interacted to produce obesity in some but not all at-risk children. Despite much rhetoric in the literature about holistic care of the preschool child, we were struck by the lack of coordinated professional input to the needs of children at risk of obesity and by the absence of nursing input in particular. We argue that a “whole-systems” nursing role, based in the community and with remit that includes clinical care, education, and policy, is urgently needed, as well as review examples of such roles from other countries.

Key words: Obesity, Child development, Community nursing, Parenting