Best Practice Principle for Obesity Reduction - Assignment Example

FOOD HYGENE AND NUTRITION BEST PRACTICLE PRINCPLE FOR OBESITY REDUCTION (BPPS) STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID WORD COUNT: 1750 WORDS FOOD HYGENE AND NUTRITION: BEST PRACTICLE PRINCPLE FOR OBESITY REDUCTION (BPPS). Introduction Obesity is one of the major global health challenges, due to its continued health risk and substantial increase in prevalence. It’s a complex condition that virtually afflicts people of all ages and, social economical groups (Saeed, 2014)1. According to a survey conducted in Austria (2011- 2012), obesity prevalence in Austrian aged above 18 years has increased progressively from 56.3% in 1995 to 62.8% in 2012 the number has progressed to 63.4% in 2017. It has also been discovered that, people living in the interior regions in Austria are more at risk of developing this condition as compared to their counterpart living in urbanized areas. The study focuses on employing BPPS to a small community in Greenacres with a total population of 2409 individuals. Epidemiology and prevalence of obesity in Australia vary between 8.3% to 19.9% in men and 9.0% to 19.8% in women with increasing trends over time (Österreich et al., 2015)2 the difference in prevalence percentages can be accounted for by the different activities that each of the gender is engaged in, Men were found to be more proactive as compared to women, hence the disparity. This community is a diversified one, it comprises of people from different walks of life, occupations, and genetic traits which makes Greenacres ideal one to conduct the obesity study. According national demographics, men and women living in the interior regions of the country are more at risk of becoming obese (Deakin Uni., 2014)3, this is in line with the data gathered during research conducted. It was discovered that, the elderly (senior citizens above the age of 45) are at risk of becoming obese as compared to the rest of the population. Furthermore, individuals that are not proactive in terms of bodily exercise, and maintain they bodies are also at risk of developing this devastating condition. To prevent obesity in the society, the implementation setting must consider the nature of technique and their level of effectiveness. Thus, the most appropriate setting would be at the community level. For example, the principle of community engagement details different levels of community involvement in reducing the rate of obesity. “Community engagement is particularly important as weight is considered a domestic, individual or family issues, it can be emotive and associated with stigmatization” (King at al., 2009)4. Community engagement many be realized in different ways which include, involving the community at the agency level, and community participation through lay community members or people from the target group. Other elements of community engagement are available to all in the community, even the inaccessible groups (hard to reach groups) this is one of the most effective community elements in principle of community engagement. Secondly, implementation setting considers the community geographic and demographic and organizational characteristic, as well as its assets and interests (King et al., 2009)4. This is referred to as community analysis to inform planning, the analysis conducted is aimed at deducting relevant data concerning obesity. “The level of overweight and obesity as well as the prevalence of risk factors for weight gain vary significantly within different geographic and demographic groups within Australia” (King et al, 2009)4. Some of the factors include the day to day involvement of the persons in the community ranging from means of transportation, leisure activities, specific behavior (extend of cycling), social-cultural attitudes regarding food, and physical activity. Another implementation setting to take into consideration is sustainability and community and community capacity. Although short term solutions/ interventions may have an effect on factors related to obesity it may not be sustainable (King et al, 2009)4 it is important to focus on capacity building efforts on specific obesity related aims. According to research community intervention strategies are most likely to produce sustainable benefits when they involve policy and environment changes with the community. This strategy seeks to prompt and strength the capacity of partners, developing practices that are sustained to obesity prevention. Obesity usually results from a number of reasons and contributing factors which include; genetics, lifestyle, inactivity, unhealthy diet, age, among others. The major causes of obesity in our community were found to be lifestyle and age. Lifestyle includes the activities one is involved with and the type of foods they ingest. Although obesity is linked to genetics, a child conceived by one or parent whom are obese is at risk of being obese themselves, this isn’t due to genetics alone but also to the lifestyle (Mayo clinic, 2015)5. According to studies people living in the same community and specifically in a family unit tend to adopt similar behaviors and routines. Thus, a child whose one or both parents are obese is likely to be obese too. Age is another factor that contributes to obesity, senior citizens are observed to me less active compared to the rest of the population. Although obesity can occur at any age, the hormonal imbalance and low activity increases the risk. Scientists explain that, as a person ages the number of muscles is their bodies also decreases these also leads to a lower metabolic rate. Do to reduce calorie needs it is harder to keep off excess weight, which eventually leads to obesity. In a study conducted in Port Said city Egypt it was shown that they is a collation between a child’s lifestyle I.e. social background and his/her BIM or weight (Said Badawi et al.. 2012)6 “This study found a relatively high prevalence of overweight and obesity among 6–12 year-old children in Port Said city, this results are in line with Australian (Greenacres) health data which show that out of the 641 families living in the area, an average of 1.6 children per family. 25.9% - 29.5% of these are obese or overweight. Socioeconomic class, faulty dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle, low level of physical activity, and finally parental BMI showed a strong association with the BMI of students. Lifestyle and age go hand in hand when it comes to obesity (Mayo clinic, 2015)5. Therefore, in order to reduce the level of obesity in our society, it is important to alter your lifestyle as one progress in age. This means, minding what you eat and engaging in more physical activities that are aimed to burning extra calories ingested, according to Australian health data, only 44.5% of the total population is involved in physical activities. In Greenacres, there is an average of 1.4 vehicles per household. This lowers the amount of physical activities each member of a household is involved with e.g. walking as a form of exercise. The average age of Greenacres is 32 years, which lowers the risk factor of obesity when considering age as senior citizens are more likely to be afflicted as compared to youngsters. It is also important to make lifestyle changes in terms of diet (food stuffs consumed), alcohol consumption, and smoking, among others, according to the Australian Bureau of statistics, 12.8% of the total population age 14 years and above smokes. Also, maintaining hormonal control over your body is another way of adjusting your body, this lowers the risk of obesity. It is done by medical professional through a simple procedure referred to as hormonal therapy (Said Badawi et al, 2012)6. Furthermore, Australian experts recommend that one should ingest food of lower energies and enlist in more physical activity (Deakin Uni., 2014) to lower the risk of becoming overweight and eventually leading to obesity. Obesity reduction in society requires a vigilant and a communal effort, different methods listed in this paper are aimed to address obesity causing factors ranging from foodstuffs to lifestyle one has adapted. Also, different methods on how to avoid this obesity causing factors, by adapting a much healthier mode of living have also been shortlisted. This is aimed to create awareness throughout the community on health risks associated with obesity as a medical condition. By creating awareness in the community this paper seeks to reduce obesity affliction us to lack of knowledge, it was identified that they is a substantial gap between obesity in people who have acquired some sort of education and those in the community who have not received a proper education. This gap, according to a study conducted in Afghanistan is 31.2% illiterate, compared to 18.9% of literate individuals who are afflicted by this condition (Saeed, 2014)1. Therefore, by creating awareness we aim to close the gap between the learned and the illiterate in the hope of lowering the rate of obesity in Australia. To curb obesity in our society, there are a number of steps that should be put into consideration, some these factors include diversity (this is characterized by genetic markers), age and accessibility, level of education, lifestyle and social standing (Ogden et al., 2003-2004)7. By identifying at risk groups in our society, People are more likely to combat the condition by focusing on this risk group. At risk groups have been identified in the course of this research by collecting relevant data (Graubard et al., 2015)8. Considering the community used in this study, two groups of individuals were identified as the most likely to be afflicted by this condition. Comparing these results with national demographic data it was found to be accurate. For example, the groups identified in this study as at risk groups are also included in the national demographic data (AIHW, 2016)9. In Australia it has been demonstrated that children are more like to be affected by this condition as compared to adults’. Figuratively, 25% children are obese in Australia as compared to 10% of adults. The Australian health policy collaboration (AHPC) has presented data that aims to reduce various risk factors, including smoking. According to this data it aims to reduce obesity in children from the current estimate of 7.8% in children to 6.6% by the year 2025. In adults, it is estimated by 2025 the percentage of people living with obesity will have decreased from the current 27.9% to 24.6% (AHPC, 2017)10. By reducing the risk factors and obesity in children, they are aiming to grow a healthier community. In conclusion, to lower the level of obesity affliction in my community (Greenacres), and in Australia generally, it is important to implement the outlined prevention intervention principles. Some of these recommendations include paying particular focus on identifying ‘at risk groups’ and developing appropriate measures aimed at reducing or eliminating the risk. Obesity is a condition that affects people of different social standings, age, race and other traits. Therefore, to lower the risk of increased obesity cases in a given population, incuding Greenacres, all stakeholders in the community should be involved. References 1. Khwaja Mir Saeed, Prevalence and Associated Risk Factor for Obesity in Jalalabad City. Afghanistan: Alexandria medical journal; 2014 2. Wien Österreich, Thomas Dorner, Epidemiology of obesity in Austria. Vienna: Rockville publishers; 201 5 3. Deakin University, Obesity and Body Mass Index. Geelong: Deakin University press; 2014 4. King L, Gill T., Best Practice Principles for Community- based Obesity Prevention. Geelong: Deakin university press; 2009 5. Mayo clinic staff, Disease and Conditions Obesity. Arizona: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER); 2015 6. Nora El-Said Badawi, Abeer Abo Barakat, Seham Awad El Sherbini *, Haitham Mohamed Fawzy, Prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary school children in Port Said city. Cairo Egypt: Cairo University press; 2012 7. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, Flegal KM. Obesity among adults in the United States— no change since 2003–2004. NCHS data brief no 1. Hyattsville: MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2007 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/index.html 8. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Overweight and Obesity. Sydney: Australian Government; 2016 http://www.aihw.gov.au/overweight-and-obesity/ 9. Australian Health collaboration. Australian’s Health Tracker by Area 2017. Australia: AHPC; 2017 http://www.atlasesaustralia.com.au/ahpc/aust-health-tracker-area.html 10. Katherine M. Flegal; Barry I. Graubard; David F. Williamson; Mitchell H. Gail.  Excess Deaths Associated With Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity JAMA, April 20, 2005; 293: 1861 - 1867 Read More