Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper

Obesity is a continuing challenge for citizens and health care providers in the United States, as you likely know. Obesity can lead to numerous chronic health problems, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Childhood diabetes is also increasing at a disconcerting rate, which will lead to an increased health care burden within a few short years. Current estimates set the cost of obesity on the U.S. health care system at $147–$210 billion per year (The State of Obesity, 2016). Think about this week’s media as you take a moment to consider obesity as a burgeoning global challenge. To prepare for this Discussion: Compare rates of obesity in the United States to other developed and also developing countries. Think about how health issues resulting from obesity compare as well. Reflect on health promotion and prevention strategies that nurses can implement. Contemplate the ethical, cultural, economic, political, and environmental issues a nurse should consider when developing a primary obesity health prevention strategy. Post an obesity health promotion and prevention strategy a nurse could implement for a specific cultural group in the United States. Then, modify your message for use in one other country, being sensitive to the cultural nuances of the country you select. Describe why you chose to take the approach you did in your strategies and explain any challenges you anticipate a nurse may encounter when trying to implement these strategies. Support your response with references from the professional nursing literature. A 3-paragraph (at least 350 words) response. Be sure to use evidence from the readings and include in-text citations. Utilize essay-level writing practice and skills, including the use of transitional material and organizational frames. Avoid quotes; paraphrase to incorporate evidence into your own writing. A reference list is required. Use the most current evidence (usually ≤ 5 years old). It has to be written in APA 7th edition and sources have to be 5 years or less. Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper

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Despite combined efforts to address the obesity crisis in the United States, the rates of childhood and adult obesity are still high. According to the statistics provided by Evensen et al (2017), currently, close to  34% of adults and 15-20% of adolescents and children are obese in the US Childhood obesity is likely to progress to adulthood increasing the risk of chronic lifestyle illnesses such as hypertension, type 2 DM, and cardiovascular illnesses.. Despite public policy efforts to combat obesity, there has been minimal progress. With continuous urbanization and mechanization, the prevalence of obesity will continue to increase more so if there is failure to implement effective evidence-based target interventions that purpose to reduce the rates of obesity. This paper discusses cultural-specific obesity health promotion and prevention strategies a nurse can implement in the US. It also examines   the challenges to anticipate during the implementation of the aforementioned strategies. Nurses have an ethical and professional obligation to enhance health promotion and disease prevention to reduce the risk of obesity as role models and educators considering cultural and psychosocial parameters. Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper

Obesity

Healthcare providers make a diagnosis of obesity when a client has a BMI that exceeds 30. Nearly 70 % of Americans are obese, putting them at increased risk of other health conditions (Evensen et al, 2017). 1 in 3 children in the United States are considered obese or overweight, and more than 1/3 of the adults in the United States are obese High cholesterol and high blood pressure are health issues that can arise; causing type 2 diabetes due to life pattern putting a greater risk of heart attacks. Obesity is completely preventable.

Cultural-Specific Health Promotion Strategy to Implement In the US

According to the findings of the study by Isong et al (2018), there is a high prevalence of childhood obesity among children from ethnic minority groups in the US. The prevalence is higher among Black Americans (20.8%) in comparison to whites (15.9%). The high prevalence is due to social, biological, epigenetic and environmental factors. Among Black Americans, high childhood obesity rates is associated with the following behavioral factors; physical inactivity,  tobacco smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding, high intake of fast foods, and long hours viewing television.

The findings of the study by Avis et al., (2015) illustrates that parents play an integral role in reducing and preventing childhood obesity. Therefore, the best health promotion strategy to implement in this culture is educating parents about nutrition and physical activity. Education increases awareness of good eating habits and healthy nutrition. By serving nutritious meals and snacks, regular physical exercise, and food education, parents or caregivers will better reduce childhood obesity. For growing bodies, nutritious meals and snacks offer nutrients when modeling balanced eating habits and attitudes. Increased physical exercise decreases risks of wellbeing and helps control weight. Training in nutrition helps young children gain an understanding of a lifetime of proper nutrition and healthier eating habits. Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper

Message Modification for Use In China

There is a higher prevalence of childhood obesity in China (Holtz, 2017). Those who live in urban areas, have access to fast-food restaurants compared to China and the United States, and are at a greater risk of obesity or being overweight compared to people who in  rural settings. Chinese menus have hugely changed. “The” Western diet, “which is broadly characterized by a high intake of refined carbohydrates,  sugars, fats, and animal-source foods, has replaced conventional diet in which plant foods were given preference.

 Challenges To Anticipate During Implementation

As identified in the study by Hayes et al. (2019), the most likely barriers to anticipate during implementation are individual/ family, and school setting barriers Changes in family expectations and dietary behavior of children at the individual / family level is seen as especially problematic in the FD system. In the GST parental mindset and busy job schedules, the mode of travel children use to get to school is seen as significant determinants. The apparent lack of priority for active parental transport and their inability to engage in other school events, such as the parent cycle training programme, made the introduction of the GST difficult. Furthermore, there was a prolific societal belief that commuting to school is dangerous and a conventional picture that commuting is unfit for girls as a mode of travel. An significant hurdle was still negative community pressure around cycling helmets.

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Conclusion

Education on fitness and diet will be a technique a hospital nurse would use. Having various conference form groups made available for free in-service would also go a long way. Educating people on the value of nutritious meals and workout for free. Other than the poor eating choices and unsafe foods, it is often important for someone with the right experience to show people the different options to encourage them(Tucker and Lanningham-Foster,2015). It can assist with preparation by showing them a nutritious meal and where to find it.

Doing enjoyable exercises such as children’s games will make them continue to be active and take part in more sports. In the United States is that children are obsessed with mobile gadgets and can absorb their spare time occasionally. It will help to minimize the whole day spent on an indoors on television screens by getting a time-limit imposed by parents. It would be refreshing for the child to encourage an aerobic routine. Not only is it beneficial for everyone to exercise, but also is benefited by the positive endorphins that the body produces. Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper

 References

Avis, J. L., Cave, A. L., Donaldson, S., Ellendt, C., Holt, N. L., Jelinski, S., Martz, P., Maximova, K., Padwal, R., Wild, T. C., & Ball, G. D. (2015). Working With Parents to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Protocol for a Primary Care-Based eHealth Study. JMIR research protocols, 4(1), e35. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.4147

Evensen, E., Emaus, N., Kokkvoll, A., Wilsgaard, T., Furberg, A. S., & Skeie, G. (2017). The relation between birth weight, childhood body mass index, and overweight and obesity in late adolescence: a longitudinal cohort study from Norway, The Tromsø Study, Fit Futures. BMJ Open, 7(6).

Hayes, C. B., O’Shea, M. P., Foley-Nolan, C., McCarthy, M., & Harrington, J. M. (2019). Barriers and facilitators to adoption, implementation and sustainment of obesity prevention interventions in schoolchildren- a DEDIPAC case study. BMC public health, 19(1), 198. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6368-7

Isong, I. A., Rao, S. R., Bind, M. A., Avendaño, M., Kawachi, I., & Richmond, T. K. (2018). Racial and ethnic disparities in early childhood obesity. Pediatrics, 141(1), e20170865.

Mank, I., Vandormael, A., Traoré, I., Ouédraogo, W. A., Sauerborn, R., & Danquah, I. (2020). Dietary habits associated with the growth development of children aged< 5 years in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Burkina Faso. Nutrition Journal, 19(1), 1-14.Tucker, S., & Lanningham-Foster, L. M. (2015). Nurse-led school-based child obesity prevention. The Journal of School Nursing, 31(6), 450-466. Obesity: A Global Health Concern Paper