Month: May 2020

Critical Appraisal of Child Stunting

One of the core competencies that nurses and medical practitioners require to implement evidence into practice is the critical appraisal of relevant published literature to inform decision-making. Scholars believe that evidence-based medicine can help improve the quality of healthcare delivered. Thus, the medical fraternity should be in a position to identify, critically appraise, and synthesise research to assess the usefulness and validity of research findings (Chang et al., 2013; Smith & Noble, 2018). In line with this, the current report seeks to appraise an article from Rabaoarisoa et al. (2017) on “the importance of public health, poverty reduction programs and women’s empowerment in the reduction of child stunting in rural areas of Moramanga and Morondava, Madagascar.” The research is a case-control epidemiological study, which makes the selection of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2018) checklist tool for case-control studies ideal for reviewing the literature. The checklist comprises an eleven-point scale that evaluates research validity, reliability of the results, and feasibility of the recommendations within the population tested. The reason for selecting CASP tools is that they are more succinct and effectively cover the areas needed for critical appraisal, according to Nadelson & Nadelson (2014).

The Best Strategy to Maintain Body Weight

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that obesity is killing more people than malnutrition. Each year, more than 2.8 million people lose their lives to complications resulting from being overweight (Aktar, Qureshi and Ferdous 38). The West bears the most burden of this disease as more incidents of obesity are reported in the developed economies than other parts of the world. For that reason, these countries have declared the disease an epidemic. Experts warn that the prevalence rate will continue in an upward trajectory due to poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles (Clark et al. 605). Healthy eating, consistent exercise, and stress management are some of the clinically-proven strategies of maintaining body weight.