Intervention and Evaluation - Essay Example

Intervention & Evaluation - Obesity & Hypertension” Obesity and hypertension go hand in hand in most of the cases. Recent reports witness that almost 66% of the U.S adults and 20% of children are obese or overweight. It is an issue which demands great concern and attention as it is upsetting the well-being of present communities and engulfing the peace of minds. It is essential to understand and alarm the communities about these dreaded issues to further diminish the prevalence of high cholesterol levels, sleep apnea, orthopedic problems, early signs of puberty in children and a great fall in the life expectancy.

It is imperative that intervention and evaluation measures must be taken to deal with these issues.IntroductionResearch data states that obesity has taken a form of epidemic in United States and there is a remarkable increase in the obese and overweight individuals since 1999- 2006, owing to increase BMI (Body Mass Index). If BMI is >40.0 an individual is said to be extremely obese and this accounts to 6% of the US population, on the other hand if the BMI of individual is >30.0, then he is under the category of obese and accounts for 34% of US population while individuals with BMI in the range of 25.0 – 29.0 are considered to be overweight and accounts for 33% of the US population.

This segment of population are liable for chronic diseases related to heart viz. hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cancers and stroke (Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States; The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta). Identified Problems: Reasons paving the way for obesity followed by hypertension are formulated they encompass life styles, eating habits and diet, exercise, environmental factors including , lack of space to play and exercise and stress both at personal and professional levels.

It is essential that states and communities must intervene to generate an atmosphere that sustain healthy eating and energetic living. Considering this as crucial issue, CDC instigated Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention Project to formulate obesity prevention strategies and monitor its implementation for prevention of obesity followed by hypertension (Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States; The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta).

Interventions: In order to create an awareness to combat with issues like obesity and hypertension, communities should come forward to enhance the availability of healthier food and beverages in public service venues including schools, parks, cities and county buildings. Communities should progress in making accessible healthier foods and beverages at affordable cost in public venues and must craft inducement for purchasing and consuming better foods and beverages. Healthy food items must have geographical availability and distribution and thereby restricting availability of less healthy foods and beverages or calorific food rich in fat, sugar and sodium and poor in nutrients which are easily available in/ nearby US schools.

Provision should be made by communities to curb advertisements of less healthy foods. Interventions should be made by communities on breast feeding as it reduces the risk of childhood obesity. Emphasis must be given to physical education, extracurricular physical activities, outdoor recreational facilities like bicycling and walking. Communities must develop and promote access to places where physical activities could be performed (Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States; The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta).

Nursing Theory and Evaluation: based on the research studies it is essential that awareness must be generated amongst people about their life styles, eating habits and what and when to intake, nurses play key role in these interventions as they are closely associated with people with hospital patients and hence play an imperative role in building health of the society.ConclusionIt is manifested that if refined measures are undertaken and cost-effective interventions and availability of healthy food items are made available along with generation of awareness in mob, inadequacies in health care resources could be turned to effective health of every individual in the society.

ReferencesRecommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5807a1.htm [Accessed on 11th February 2010].The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Available at http://www.cfgreateratlanta.org/Issues/Diseases-Disorders-Obesity.aspx. [Accessed on 11th February 2010].