Challenges Affecting Livelihood - Essay Example

Introduction In the 21st century, new challenges that affect our livelihood are evident when we consider health. The challenge mainly originates from the choices made while traveling, the food we take, our interaction with others and how we spend our leisure. All these define how we grow and develop through life. Public health legislation or policies have been made to address these issues with the view of promoting better health and improving health. One of the major contemporary health issues in Liverpool and England in general is obesity which is seen to affect a significant segment of the population It is estimated that a fifth of children in England are affected by obesity. A report by the department of health dated on August indicates that a third of adults and a fifth of children aged below15 years will be clinically obese .By the year the 2010 it is estimated that 12 million adults in the UK and a million children will be obese while more will be overweight (Department of Health, 2004a). In this case we mainly focus on children’s health and various health issues affecting them where we approach obesity as one of the major challenge. Health support legislation in Liverpool seeks to realize the shared responsibility that everyone has to make changes that will lead to improvement of health (Department of Health, 2004b). One is considered obese when his or her body Body mass index (BMI) is 30-39.9, when its 40 one is considered morbidly obese, when its 50 one is considered super obese. Prevalence of obesity cases has tripled since 1980 and obesity is mostly associated with various aspects for example age, gender (where it mostly affects the female), ethnic belonging to a certain group and people of the lower economic status. In the year 2000 it was estimated that one out every five adults was obese. Obesity may lead to complications and diseases which include diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, colon cancer, stroke among others. The main causes of obesity are sedentary lifestyle, increased energy food intake through eating and lack of regular exercises. In childhood obesity which is our main area of focus it is estimated that more than 75% of obese children become obese during their adulthood, for the last 20 years the number of obese children has been seen to triple mainly for children aged between six to seventeen years of age (Department of Health, 2000). These is due to increased central fat deposition, it is believed that nowadays children may have a lower life expectancy compared to their parents because of obesity, it is estimated to reduce life expectancy by 9 years when it comes to young people. In trying to reduce this problem various approaches have been deployed for example targeting the risk motivated patient, trying to identify the requirements, needs and resources available at the local level, the multidisciplinary approach and addressing the Big Wins. This report explores the contemporary public health issue related to obesity where children are our main area of concern. The report seeks to identify the causes of obesity and give recommendations on how it can be reduced in at local levels in Liverpool (Acheson, 1998). Literature Review In the compilation of the report a lot of literature review was done from the past findings to give a deeper and descriptive report. Among them were the government reports, journals and books that cover topics of obesity especially where children are concerned. The main are where the literature has been sourced is Liverpool where most facts the report have been obtained. Methods The methods used in the collection of facts include literature review, use of previous reports, use of statistics from various health departments in Liverpool, observation, government reports and personal interviews. My workplace which is a hospital in Liverpool has also been very resourceful in collection of facts to compile the report. Findings. 1. According to the head of National Audit Office the parliament was briefed that obesity had tripled over the last 20 years and continues to rise. In 1998 it was estimated that that obesity accounts for18 million of illness absence and causes premature death of 30,000 patients. Treating obesity and obesity related cases costs NHS about a half billion pounds in a year. The wider cost through loss of out put may further be estimated to amount to two billion pounds (Department of Health, 2004a). 2. In the quest to tackle obesity in England the Government had an initiative where fat people would be paid to loose weight by being given vouchers to spend on healthy foods in supermarkets (Hornick, 2001). 3. It is evident that the food carried to school by children is also a major cause of obesity in children .This because the lunchbox contains packed food that can be considered unhealthy to them (Department of Health, 2004b). 4. The number of food joints near schools and parks has been increasing drastically. However the foods they sell are mainly fast foods which are not very healthy foods and are a major attribute to obesity and overweight to the people who consume them and mainly children (Scriven, 2005). 5. Lack of physical exercise for example sporting, traveling among others is also a major contributor of obesity. To keep good health the body needs to exercise in order to burn the excess energy or fats that cause obesity. It can be concluded that most of the kids do not actively involve themselves In this exercise which are very essential (Hornick, 2001). 6.A research was also carried out by the Department of Health looking at families attitudes and behavior concerning the intake diet and activities in order to enable the formulation of solutions that will promote healthy weight and effectively target children and families .The findings are thereafter used by the Primary care Trusts and local authorities ad other parties aimed at implementing initiatives to tackle obesity Development of toolkit to assist the primary health care trust and the local authority plan has also been a major approach to tackle obesity in the U.K.The tool helps in coordination and management of obese and overweight. The tool provides information, useful statistics, initiatives, practice among others which are geared towards good practice to promote health and counter obesity. The new toolkit can be seen as an update of the previous one also designed to tackle the problem of obesity and over weight. It also provides an overview breakdown of expenses incurred in tackling obesity and over weight problems. The kit acts as a simplified guideline and reminder giving essential information to people who are willing and striving to loose weight (Hawtin, 1999). 7. Advertising can be seen as one of the best medium of communication, campaigns such as change for life in the UK have also been employed in the strife to reduce obesity, Change 4 life an example of a movement destined to encourage people to eat better and increase their movement. They incorporates such mediums such as the television, the press ,billboards and also online advertising to pass their messages .where their main target are the young families (Griffiths, 1999). Recommendations 1. The recommendations established an approach which should be evident based to solve the problem in order to ensure effectiveness and consistency in managing obesity. Cooperation between the government, institutions and the affected population through extensive work was recommended at both National and local levels in order to promote long term solution s of change in lifestyle (Department of Health, 2005). It was identified that the effective cross government approach to tackle obesity was to facilitate more physical exercise and implement better diet in schools and across the general public. However the government should incorporate other national and local partners to successfully develop better approaches to tackle these problems. The key recommendations were therefore cited as follows: Prioritization of implementation of initiatives geared towards nutrition which involves the NHS strategy to improve on balanced diet. This would help to reduce the cases of obesity and problems related to it (Weiss, 2002). Development of a cross government strategy and plan by the Department of health, the cultural department, the media and sport. They should work together to promote health benefits of people involvement in physical exercise such as sports, walking, traveling among others. This includes introduction of free exercise services at liver pool for kids to encourage them engage in physical activities (Department for Education and Skills, 2004). Reinforcement and awareness of physical activities by the Department of Education and employment should be stressed on. Guidance should also be availed in schools to allow them weigh out the advantage and also the shortcomings arising from involvement and participation in sponsorship programmes that promote behavior contrary to health information and eating habits (Department of Health, 1999). 2. Moreover those who manage to lose substantial weight would be given cash prizes. This would work to motivate people to loose weight and also increase awareness on the importance of living a healthy life. 3. The government should actively urges schools and other education institutions to perform inspection on launch boxes to make sure they contain healthy food. Other efforts include introduction of cookery lessons to pupils to ensure healthy cooking practices and also increment of sporting activities hours from the normal two hours to five hours in week. This will increase the time available for them to engage physical activities such as sporting traveling among others, lessons should also be entrenched in schools and other institutions to promote awareness on the dangers of obesity and the importance of healthy practices and consumption of healthy food (Baggott, 2004). 4. Reduction of fast food joints near schools and parks was also advocated in order to reduce the access and intake of unhealthy food that leads to obesity. Most of these joints sell foods which are mainly a major contributor of weight gain and can be considered to pause a health danger to the children. The fast food joints also should be regulated and inspected to ensure they sell healthy food recommended to promote safe health measures (Department of Health, 2004a). 5. Children at school are also involved in Gardening activities where they are able to grow, harvest and consume their own vegetables and fruits School children and teachers are offered support to involve themselves in these growing projects where they are also able to engage in physical activities through gardening .Essential Information on .on healthy eating, cooking is also availed and fully explored. Besides promoting a better health through their engagement, they are able to internalize this skills which they can also transfer to others increase the effectiveness in tackling obesity. This also can greatly reduce the cost of buying healthy food when they produce the food on their own at their country (Department of Health, 2004a). 6. The research should be carried out continuously for effective monitoring and evaluation of progress and changes made. This will assist in assessing the various programmes employed towards reduction of obesity and also and the effectiveness of the campaigns at a local level (Department of Health, 2000). 7. In Liverpool it makes subject of weight and activities a prominent topic and thereby sensitizing the people. It also encourages members of the public to rally behind to promote the campaign making it to more effective. Such campaigns when introduced will have a greater impact on the society towards the tackling of obesity among the young people (Department of Health, 2000). Conclusion / Summary The challenge of tackling obesity is a long term process and even the most effective programmes will not be able to deliver much within a short period of time .The government and its various departments must continuously campaign and support people to change their behaviors that may lead to weight problems. Consumption of fruits and vegetable should be encouraged but reduction of childhood obesity should be stressed on because most of the behaviors that lead to overweight problems are learnt at an earlier stage during childhood. This requires good government policies and progrrammes that will help in achieving the targeted objectives where obesity is concerned (Clegg, 2002). In the year 2008 the government came up with plan that are geared towards the reduction of the rising levels of obesity, the strategy put in place known as Healthy weight Healthy lives strategy for England. It gave a clear outline and steps to be taken by healthcare practitioners, authorities ,schools and the general public to not only ensure that obesity is put to a halt but also reverse the health of the already affected .It also seeks to change lifestyles of individuals and families towards living healthier lifestyles (Abdel-Galil, 2002). In a new local government Network report measures to put the local authority in the centre to curb obesity have also been set up. Councils are to adopt an obesity strategy agreed upon in their local area and thereafter remunerated by saving 50% of NHS savings on treatment of future cases of obesity as a result of early intervention. In the new role of councils it is also seen that all authorities should have a strategy in place to also improve local facilities available for example the local council providing transport from one leisure centre to another (Doherty, 2002). Free access to sport facilities can be seen to increase fitness activities for more than 50%, this was cited in the report. It also proposes permitting the local people to access sporting facilities at schools that receive charitable status to help tackle obesity especially children. The report predicts that by the year 2020 33% of the girls and 20 % of the boys will be obese .This pauses a great threat and challenge to the government and the public as it is evident that children who are obese end up being obese during their adulthood (Gentileschi, 2002). NLGN proposes for urgent changes to the planning systems in the country to boost healthy living, these include structural changes where buildings should sport and fitness facilities such as a small spaced gym. Good public links to supermarkets should also be made to ensure access by the poorer people when they need goods (Noel, 2002). Works Cited Abdel-Galil E, Abbas Sabry A. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass - Evaluation of three different techniques. Obesity Surgery, 2002; 12: 639-642 Acheson, D (1998) Independent Inquiry Into Inequalities in Health. A report. London HMSO. Baggott, R (2004) Health and Health Care in Britain. 3rd edition. Basingstoke Macmillan press. Choban PS, Flancbaum L. 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