Obesity in Focus and Shape Up Jacksonville Program - Research Paper Example

OBESITY INTRODUCTION World Health Organization (1946) defined health not merely as absence of any actual disease but it is complete physical function, social function, role function, mental health and general health perceptions. Being such, programs in health are no longer limited to solely addressing actual physical and mental illnesses but that health concerns are also focused on how quality of life can be achieved, maintained and furthered. In this context of holistic health and responding to the challenge of WHO concept of health, this paper intends to look into one of the most prevalent health issues of our period – obesity. Obesity is a “leading public health concern in the United States.” (Ogden et al 2006 p 1549) However, it should be noted that the prevalence of obesity is not only a public health concern of the United States but that obesity is now considered as a “worldwide epidemic, prevalent in women… and increasingly seen as feature of the poor” (James et al 2001 p 230, 231) As such, there is an imperative on the part of everybody to take an active participation in addressing obesity as a health issue. As this paper looks into obesity, it will attempt to give a presentation of obesity from its causes, risk factors, treatments. Also this paper will look into the viability of future approaches and treatments to obesity and finally evaluate the effectiveness of some existing health programs that directly deals with obesity. OBESITY IN FOCUS Obesity is defined as having an “excessive amount of body fat”. (Obesity n.d) It is an “excess proportion of total body fat.” (What is obesity? n.d) It is a multifactorial disease consisting of cultural, environmental, socioeconomic, psychological, and genetic components. Doctors often use a formula based on the person’s height and weight – known as the body mass index (BMI) – to establish whether the person is obese or not. Adults whose BMI is 30 or higher are considered as obese. Extreme obesity, also called as severe obesity or morbid obesity, happens when the person’s BMI is 40 or more. Persons who are in the range of morbid obesity is likely to be suffering from other serious health problems. Although, it is claimed that obesity is prevalent among women (James et al 2006), obesity is a health concern of everybody – adults, juvenile and children regardless of race, gender and social stature. As obesity is defined as cumulated and excessive body or increasing amount of fat in the body, it has been proposed that to better understand the dynamics of the disease the “pathophysiology of increasing body fat.” (Kopelman 2000 p 636) As a result of this, it is now known that obese individuals with excess fat in intra-abdominal depots are at particular risk of negative health consequences, with certain ethnic populations carrying different levels of risk. The symptoms of obesity include: difficulty in sleeping, snoring, sleep apnea, pain in the back or joints, excessive sweating, always feeling hot, rashes or infections in the folds of the skin, feeling out of breath with minor exertion, daytime sleepiness or fatigue and depression. (Obesity n.d.; What is obesity? n.d ) Furthermore, obesity is caused by a combination of factors or conditions such as pregnancy, lack of sleep, certain medications such as steroids, beta-blockers, and antidepressant, bad eating habits and living an inactive life all contributes to the probability of becoming obese. However, it cannot be discounted that there are certain risk factors that increases our chance of suffering from obesity. These risk factors include: first, genetics, “Several candidate genes have been associated with human obesity or its metabolic complications. They include receptors that are important in mechanisms of thermogenesis (for example, _3-adrenergic-receptor gene and the family of uncoupling proteins) as well as those involved in appetite regulation.” (Kopelman 2000 p 637)Second, family history is another risk factor. Fatness runs in the family. Third, is age. It is recognized that obesity is a problem even among children but it also known that as a person age there are hormonal changes, less active life style, less muscles and slower metabolism all of these taken together become a risk factor for obesity. Fourth, is quitting cigarette smoking. And finally, social and economic factors. Studies have shown that people who belong to the lower strata are more susceptible in eating foods which are high in sugar and fat because it is more affordable. And that they are more inclined in sedentary lifestyle because it is less costly. As these risk factors and conditions or causes that contribute to the increase chance of obesity, obesity, in turn, is considered as one of the primary factors in the development of some serious diseases which are blood lipid abnormalities, cancer, depression, gallbladder disease, gynecological problems like infertility and irregular periods, heart disease, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, skin problems such as intertrigo and impaired wound healing, sleep apnea, stoke and Type 2 diabetes. (Obesity n.d.; What is obesity? n.d ) Aside from these illnesses, there is a significant impact in terms of quality of life (depression, isolation, shame, physical discomfort, sexual problems and depression), of years of life lost and years of life with disability of people who are suffering from obesity. (Obesity n.d. ; What is obesity? n.d; James et al 2001) Current treatments of obesity include exercise, eating healthy foods and drinking healthy drinks, active life style and bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery. Weight lost surgery is often considered as drastic solution to the problem of obesity. it should be noted that bariatric surgery is given to people who are unable to lose weight by any other means. Weight loss surgery is of two types; first is the traditional open surgery which involves 10 to 12 inches incisions to access the stomach and intestine. And the second type is laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery. Both approaches have excellent results, allowing the patients to lose 80% - 90% of their excess fat in 10 – 24 months with most of the patients retaining their initial weight lost after five years With the gravity and prevalence of the problem of obesity, the urgency to address the issue is imperative. And the response is tremendous. THE PROGRAM: SHAPEUP JACKSONVILLE Shape Up Jacksonville is a Times Union and Jacksonville.com year long project to inspire and guide people of Northeast Florida to live healthier lives. As part of the project, Times Union has partnered with the YMCA Florida’s First Coast. Physical trainers and nutrition experts including dieticians, health coaches and personal trainers are made available in blogs to help the residents regarding their queries about healthy diet, right exercise, or in other words healthy lifestyle. The blog, at the same time, act as a support group. In the blog you can tell your triumphs and lapses, your stories about the struggle for a healthy life style in the midst fast foods and junks and other environmental factors that makes healthy living very difficult. You can also share your exercise and give support to others who are undergoing the same experience shifting to healthier lives or just sharing your life story so as to motivate those who are planning to shift to a healthier lifestyle. The blog is in fact the support group that you can access 24/7. Aside from it being the venue where the experts and lay people meet and share a common ground towards a healthier lifestyle. To prod the project, five locals were chosen participants. For the first six months they were given one-on-one personal advisers and they were allowed to use the facilities of YMCA for free. SHAPE UP JACKSONVILLE: EVALUATED The beauty and strength of the Shape Up Jacksonville project is that via utilizing the power of the internet it has allowed the nutrition experts and trainers to meet in cyberspace and truly discuss what are the things that need to be done, things to undo, hurdles to go over, difficulties that lies ahead as decision to lead a healthier life is made. The blog allows people to be informed of the true experience of people who are suffering from obesity, learn from their actual experience as they try to shift to healthier living and to be with them as they go through the phase of change. The arena which Jacksonville.com and Times Union have created –the blog – has enfleshed our abstracted concept of obesity. Hearing and seeing the stories of people who are actually in the process of regaining control over their bodies via opting to live healthier serve as an inspiration and motivation to other people who are always planning to take the step for change but are unable to do so. It is a totally different scenario when you see somebody who is really undergoing the experience with you rather seeing a person whose physique is sculpt perfectly and telling you that you can be like that. However, the project has some weaknesses. First, by choosing five local participants that may serve as the spark or the model for the change of lifestyle is disconcerting since the population of Jacksonville is 1,313,228 as of 2008. There is an imbalance. If the intention of the project is to jumpstart the change to a healthier lifestyle, then five models is like a needle in a hay stock. More people should have been asked to participate. Trusting the cyberspace to do the talk and the marketing for the project is not enough. Five out of one million help by the project is insignificant. Second, clearer and more concrete strategies as to how people will be further educated regarding the dangers of obesity and what other strategies can be utilized to avoid yoyo, and to continue and be firm with the decision to live a healthier life are not that well defined. Are they to assume that the success of five persons is enough to motivate a million or more people? What if all five fails? What are the contingencies? Seeing and hearing somebody loss weight is a very inspiring story. However, the sad truth with some of these stories is that the attention is directed more often to the aesthetics of losing weight and not to the medical benefits derived out from losing excess weight. Third, what other means of informing the people regarding the dangers of obesity and the advantages of healthy lifestyle is being used. Are they solely dependent on the internet and the ‘five stories’? Fourth, the goal of the project is to inspire and guide people of Northeast Florida to live healthier lives, how can this be attained in the enrolment of five participants? What is the connection between the five participants in the project and the project’s goal? As mentioned earlier, are they the model? All of these are left unclear. Fifth, the five participants are offered free access to YMCA’s facilities. Is the same policy extended to others or is it limited only to the five participants? Finally, what are the follow up projects after this? This question is significant as the battle against obesity is a lifelong battle. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? Fight against obesity takes two forms; one is thru preventive measures via active living, and healthy diet and lifestyle and the other involves treatment. Shake Up Jacksonville has taken the first right leap towards preventive measures against obesity by providing a forum that will allow people to discuss, listen to each other’s stories and support one another in the fight against obesity. But more has to be done and we can capitalize on what others have tried and done already. Learning from the examples laid down in Social Trends No 36 2006, we can incorporate the following suggestions to Shake Up Jacksonville: 1. Education and advertising campaigns aimed at improving diets should be intensified 2. Walking and biking should be encouraged as means of ‘active and alternative transportation’ 3. Training other personnel in the health services like nurses and other relevant professionals to give advice on weight control, exercise diet, and other physical activities 4. Weight monitoring of people who are considered as obese and /or at risk persons 5. Discounts or subsidies on slimming groups and exercise programs should be given to those who are interested in joining such programs. 6. Regulate the fast food industry. This one may hurt but this is one sure fire that will help the project achieved its goal. 7. Encourage sports not only for the children and adolescents but also for those who are getting older These suggestions can be disseminated via campaign in schools, and commercials about the dangers of obesity and benefits of healthy lifestyle be aired both in the radio and television. There is no need to get the services of somebody well known to be the spokesperson of the project. Let the real life story of the five participants multiply. And finally, let both the private and the public sector join hands in the arduous and lifelong fight against obesity. CONCLUSION Obesity should not be seen as a mere cosmetic problem that affect is only a small number of people. Obesity exacerbates many serious problems aside from being a health problem on its own. Moreover, obesity is now regarded as a global pandemic that poses a menace to global well being. As such, there is now a strong need for all stakeholders –individuals, private sector and the public sector – to undertake a more active participation in the battle against obesity. REFERENCES: World Health Organization. (1946) Constitution of the World Health Organization. Geneva: World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/governance/en. Accessed on 25/08/09. James, P.T., Leach, R., Kalamara, E. & Shayeghi, M. (2001). “The worldwide obesity epidemic”, Obesity Research, Vol. 9, Suppl 4, pp 228s – 232s. Kopelman, P.G. (2000) “Obesity as a medical problem”, Nature, Vol. 404, pp 635 – 644. Ogden, C., Carroll, M., Curtin, L., & McDonnell, K. (2006). “Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999 – 2004”, JAMA, Vol. 295, No 13, pp 1549 -1559. ELECTRONIC SOURCES Obesity. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DSOO314. Accessed on 25 August 2009. What is obesity?. (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.WebMD.com/diet/what is obesity. Accessed on 25 August 2009. Read More