Health Promotion Proposal (Obesity in America)
Introduction
Obesity is a very common nutritional disease in America and a number of other affluent countries. America seems to be leading in this nutritional disease and a number of individuals are affected. In the recent past, there has been an increase in the prevalence amongst children, adults, and adolescents in America. Because of deleterious effects of obesity on the risk of chronic diseases, mortality, high social, psychological, and medical cost, multiplicity of causes and hazards of pharmacological treatments and complexities with regards to the guidelines of treatment, prevention approach on excess weight should be given attention (Dalton, 1997). This should start very early in life with the change in the behavior of individuals. This will help to sort the problem associated with the burden of treating the disease in adulthood. It is very vital to consider having an active lifestyle and eliminate any kind of circumstance that would make you not eat healthy foods. Worth addressing in the process of coming up with a solution for obesity is the consumption of calories above the body requirement (Dalton, 1997). There should be a balance between the amount of calories consumed and the activities that an individual engages in.
The intervention
The review of literature supports the fact the increased prevalence in obesity in America is attributed greatly to lifestyle of the American population. The context of the American environment seems to be very antagonistic to healthy lifestyle. The best approach therefore would be the one that would aim at influencing the lifestyle of the American population. This can be done by the serious engagement of the populace on healthy lifestyle habits through policies and media campaigns at virtually all levels. Through policies and programs of the government, it would be possible to mitigate poor diet and sedentary lifestyle which are the great factors that contribute to obesity in America. Government policies would be able cover a wide area since they would be applicable in schools, communities, workplaces and medical centers.
The health policies should cover areas such education on healthful lifestyles, advertising and food labeling, food assistance programs, health and aspects of transportation (DHHS, 2000). For instance, with regards to education, the federal government should be able to provide financial assistance that would be used by the department of public health in the promotion campaigns with an emphasis on healthful eating and the patterns of physical activities. The health education should also focus on the nutritional instructions and the management of weight. This should actually be part and parcel of the curriculum in schools for teaches who are involved in health education. The school television programs should have commercials for foods with high calories, sugar or fat as these influences the children in a great way towards these kinds of food staffs.
In education campaign, the plant based diet should be the focus of the dietary guidance. It is also vital to encourage and make sure that physical education and sports programs in schools are taken very seriously (Koplan & Dietz, 1999). For the campaign to be more effective there should also be healthy eating in military installations, government cafeterias, and generally among the state and federal employees. This is very vital for the success of this health promotion since obesity is a national issue in America. Thus government must be seen to be taking the lead in solving the problem of obesity. Nurses and even other medical professionals should be trained on the principles of healthful diet and aspects of exercise patterns and the benefits thereof so that they may be able rightly address the obesity cases that may be presented to them. Nurses should be engaged in research work to establish the risk of behavior for obesity. This is should also include the metabolic determinants for the maintenance and gaining of weight. The result from this research work would work as a basis for evidence based practice.
The intended outcomes
By this approach, it is expected that there will be great improvement of the diet and the physical activity by the populace since it is based on the change of behavior which is the greatest contributor of a number of obesity cases in America. Cardiovascular problems associated with obesity will also greatly decrease. Though this is a long term approach or intervention, its benefits are very sustainable in comparison to medical interventions such as the surgical approach. It is also expected that there would be more engagement of nurses in the effort of controlling the problem obesity since they will be better placed to advice the patience and apply the evidence based approach because of exposure to research of behavioral aspects that contribute to obesity. The outcome mentioned above will be evaluated based on the number of reported cases of obesity nationally and the improvement that individuals who are obese have gone through.
Limitations and challenges
This approach huge financial burden, this is because it seeks to cover every level and focuses on a wide area. It may also take a very long time to have the change in the behavior of individuals. Because of this slow nature, it may be discouraging in stances where there is a need for a quick solution. Nonetheless, these can be solved by making sure that federal government allocates enough funds for the behavioral change campaign and also by the development of policies that would make it easy for the change of behavior with regards to diet.
Reference
Dalton S. (1997). Overweight and weight management. Gaithersburg (MD): Aspen.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (US). (2000). Healthy People 2010: understanding and improving health. Conference edition. Washington: Government Printing Office.
Koplan J. P., & Dietz, W. H. (1999). Caloric imbalance and public health policy. JAMA ;282:1579-80.
Last Completed Projects
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