Health Promotion Campaign - Essay Example

?Health Promotion Campaign Obesity is considered as a significant health problem in the modern world, especially in the UK. The healthy weight strategy for Liverpool 2008-2011 is one of the campaigns that has been implemented at the city of Liverpool to reduce the obesity of their population. The project was named as a healthy weight healthy Liverpool. The campaign was implemented there to reduce the obesity problem in their population and the focused group was on the kids and adults. Studies states that obesity in Liverpool decreases the life expectancy by “9”years, it results approximately “30,000” deaths and “130,000” (Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011) sick days per year. The aim of the campaign is to make aware the adults and children in Liverpool against obesity and by “2010” (Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011) they could reduce the degree of obesity. The Liverpool campaign was mainly divided into 4 levels. In the first phase, the campaigns enkindle the people for healthy food habits and physical exercises. In the second phase the campaign guides and supports the people with compatible advices to reduce their body weight. In the third phase it organized program to reduce weight for the obese. Last phase involved the campaign and its treatment or the medical services provided for morbidly obese people of Liverpool. The health campaign set aside some important strategic objectives for the success of the programme. They were- Emergence of a new food culture, services from other organizations, medical services. Liverpool is a famous place for sports and football clubs. Through the participation of school clubs the campaign ensured the daily fitness of youngsters. The campaign of Liverpool organized various physical activity related programs that is “active play” (Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011) It includes community games, cycling, wellness programs like walking and cycling. The aim of the Program is living healthy. The campaign provides opportunities to reduce obesity. The campaign focused their public relations and they market the campaign very carefully. The campaign involved in two research program at its initial stage that is Liverpool’s food survey and active city research program. The campaign considered its findings and suggestions of the researches. The campaign developed relationship with media and they formed a website for any further reference. The food industry reduces the fat and sugar in their products. The agricultural policy of the campaign and city influenced the people to consume more vegetables and fruits. The campaign of Liverpool includes almost every detail in which a health campaign was needed. But it missed some of its important points. In the initial stages, theoretical approach of the campaign never stated about the mental health condition of the people with obesity. People with obesity carried “depression” and “anxiety” (Royal College of Physicians, 2013) and they are facing equal mental and physical problems. Every individual has their own personal problems with their physical conditions. The theoretical approaches of the campaign only focused on group activities. But to reduce or remove obesity from society needed a great deal of efforts and access to the individualistic problems. In the approaches of campaign, it’s focused on the whole population of Liverpool. In this stage the campaign mainly focused on to reduce the weight of people through the physical activities and it ensured the participation of school, parents, organizations, places of works and other services like transportation. But in this stage the service of a professional dietician or nutritionist is very important to provide scientific awareness of the condition of obesity and its consequences. Level one approach of Liverpool campaign expects the result for improving physical activity. But the campaign never mentions a gym trainer or a physical educator to deliver such services. A successful health campaign needs more sufficient professionals. One of the very important steps taken by the campaign was the awareness programs i.e., starting awareness through school activities. Accordingly to the campaign, the activities are a part of the curriculum. But in school the campaign mainly focused only at food habits. Apart from that the school should had provided awareness workshops to the youngsters. The awareness programs should also include the consequences of smoking and defining what is healthy body? The campaign provides awareness about the junk food and other healthy foods like vegetables and fruits. But the curriculum does not provide about the agricultural methods of fruits and vegetables. If it provides the agricultural pattern, the students could make one or two fruits or vegetables at their own home. So from school the students should practice the “appropriate eating behaviors” (AARP Public Policy Institute, n.d). The role of a teacher, authority of school and canteen and parents need to guide the student properly for a healthy food culture. According to the campaign, it advocates homely food at school but it’s not referring any “competitive” (AARP Public Policy Institute, n.d) sponsored school breakfast, snacks and lunch. The Healthy Weight Strategy for Liverpool 2008-2011 campaign implemented programs for breast feeding to infants to avoid the obesity from tin foods. And the campaign provides professional advices at a very low rate. The program conducted in 2008 and it only focuses upon the health of infants. The campaign needed focus on the awareness programs like the benefits of mother from breast feeding. e.g. lowering the risk of “breast cancer” and “ovarian cancer”. The breastfeeding “decreases calories” (NHS, n.d) everyday so that it helps the mother to return her weight to that of her pre-pregnancy period. The campaign advocates for cycling to burn the fat of the body. The authority of the program plans to increase the cycling program in the whole city. If the program is planning to implement this with the kids, then the authority should provide it to them for free of cost. Since, the kids fall into the category of no income earning group. Due to which the campaign is not considering the low –income group. According to the campaign at Liverpool, people with learning disability have “higher rate” (Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011) of obesity than the general population. But the campaign is not assisting them with any special plan. Methodology of the Campaign Including Evaluation: The methodology and evaluation determined the success of a campaign. The campaign of Liverpool active city evaluated the effects of obesity and achievements. The campaign divided the action methodology in to three parts on the basis of years. In the initial stage to reduce obesity, the campaign mainly focused on meeting the budget for programmes. The second step was the collective discussion for healthy food culture at Liverpool and then the campaign promotes healthier food to the whole people of Liverpool to access. The campaign advocates for physical activities like cycling and walking in their daily life. In the first stage of 2008-09, the campaign had implemented healthy taste food products and the program itself consulted with the population about cycling and walking plans. In 2009-2010 the campaign ensured to implement its plans with the people of Liverpool and 2010-11 it only made a review on the plans and strategies. The second methodology is to reduce obesity and it argues for the importance of child and adulthood. It also mobilizes the media and public relations. The campaign focuses popularity and concentrates on the participation of whole population of Liverpool and it review the policies at every stage. The plans with infant and women are also reviewed in each stages of the campaign. The campaign did mention the over weighted/ obese people but the plans and programs are not yet sufficient. These people need medical assistance. Physical activities are not applicable for over weighted persons and it may cause for severe injuries if they do fall during such an activity. The “bariatric medicine” is one of branch which is helping the over-weighted people. The campaign mentioned about surgery but it does not provide the details for the surgery. The modern science considered obesity as a disease and it needs treatment. The campaign is not mentioning any cost- effective programs. e.g. - some studies argue that to reduce watching television is one of the preventive techniques of obesity. For school level every children needs a service of nutrition. For the assessment of each program, the assistance of scientific technique is important. And every program and plan needs some systematic guides too. The Liverpool active city program is focused on the whole city but the population is too big. So attending to each and everyone’s problem is not easy task to achieve but these kinds of plans should need a help desk which anyone could access at anytime. Medical services and nursing assistance are important especially when a campaign talks about health issues such as obesity. The overweighed obese people and the kids need to improve their self-esteem in order to face the society. So every obesity campaign needs a psychological support. The nutritionist and dietician carry a very important role in the subject of obesity. But if a campaign concentrates on a big population, the program needs to have more specialized people like a specialist on the field of weight management or in simple terms a dietitian. The Liverpool active city studied obesity as a learning disability and it studies were based on the ethnicity, race and management. But it is the importance of such study which never helps the program at any stage. Instead of concentrating on ethnicity, if the campaign focuses its study on the various classes of the city it may help them. The campaign mainly focused to provide scientific awareness among the people to reduce obesity. The campaign was not strict on anyone particularly to follow its instruction. And the program never provided any final outcome or, indicating whether the campaign was still active or was able to get any indications of any change on the population. When the survey report in February, 2008 of Liverpool active city was released the study shows that nearly 40% of the adults are over-weighed and “20%”population is obese. In the case of children “13%”are over-weighted and “15%”(Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011) obese. But there are various important outcomes which were acquired by the campaign. When considering the weight of children, it showed that the levels of breast feeding mothers have increased. The percentage of students who kept lunch boxes has also increased. And the study shows that when one takes a review from the past years 2007-10 the obesity rate is decreasing among the children aged less than 11 years. The period of the campaign was from 2008-2011. And the target group was the whole population of Liverpool city. In the period of campaign it provided various simple techniques to everyone to prevent obesity. So the follow up of such plans were quite easy or they were done without any assistance of any campaign at to such an extent. Reference List Liverpool Primary Care Trust, 2011, Healthy Weight Strategy for Liverpool 2008-2011, LPCT, The city of Liverpool. Available at [Accessed on 03/04/2013] Royal College of Physicians 2013, Action on obesity: comprehensive care for all, RCP, London Available at [Accessed on 03/04/2013] AARP Public Policy Interest, n.d, Changing Health Behaviors: Reducing Obesity by Applying Lessons Learned from the Campaign to Control Tobacco Use, AARP, US. Available at [Accessed on 03/04/2013] NHS, n.d, Start 4 Life Questions and Answers. Available at [Accessed on 03/04/2013] Read More