Healthcare Campaign for Obesity in Virginia - Essay Example

? Health Care Campaign Part III Health Care Campaign Part III To curb the problem of increasing rate of obesity within the state of Virginia and the United States, it is necessary to implement appropriate programs motivated by informed recommendations for the Department of Health. The Lets Move campaign, as postulated by Michele Obama, will be effective in Virginia if relevant and appropriate programs and approaches are applied. The focus of the programs must be on addressing the social, cultural, and economic factors surrounding the increased incidence and prevalence of obesity within the state. To begin with, the Lets Move campaign should focus on media programs designed to promote healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents. Media campaigns, as a program for public health, are an effective approach because of the large number of people likely to be reached through the media (Mazzeo, Arens, Germeroth & Hein, 2012). Additionally, television and the Internet are becoming increasingly popular among the young people as attributes of advancements in information and communication technologies. Media programs for promotion of the Lets Move campaign should aim at informing parents and their children on healthy lifestyles. The design of the media messages and images should be performed effectively to capture the attention of the target audience. More significantly, the messages must be convincing to the young people by demonstrating the reasons for practicing healthy lifestyles and proper diet. Education programs within learning institutions are recommended as a strategy of furthering the goals of the Lets Move Campaign. It is in this sense that the government policies on education should support the campaign against obesity among the young people. The state of Virginia would specifically amend its policies on the curriculum so that it would include education programs for the promotion of healthy living among the young people. The recommended education programs should include learning the issues, such as diet and nutrition, exercising, and healthy eating. Additionally, the young learners should understand the risks that are associated with obesity including heart problems, diabetes, and general deterioration of health. It has been argued that childhood obesity can best be prevented through proper formal education programs. In addition to the formal education in classrooms, it is recommended for community education programs to target the parents of the young people. The community education programs should aim at informing parents on healthy eating for their children, the nutrition content of various food products within stores and the management of the eating habits of their children. They recommend scientific studies on the social, economic, and cultural behavior patterns in regard to food purchase and consumption as a way of preventing obesity among young people. The recommended studies will provide evidence based information that will aid the decision-making process with the creation of government policies in the manufacture and the retail of various food products. Therefore, the government policies on funding should be supportive of the financial incentives directed on the recommended studies. In addition to the investigation of consumer behavior, the environmental aspects, such as lack of exercising enabling environment, must also be researched upon. The research findings should be presented to the parents, teachers, policy makers, food producers, and retailers in an effort of reducing the prevalence of obesity among the young people. Furthermore, the recommended research must be involved in the assessment of the health condition of the young people. The health assessment must be aimed at determining the current health status of the obesity predisposed children and the factors that are likely to increase their risk of developing obesity. It is through research that the issue of obesity can be investigated, and evidence-based knowledge used to control the problem within the young population (Lueke, 2011). The research findings should also be used to enact government legislation on matters of production and sale of food products. In this sense, the root causes of obesity among the young people would be solved. Collaboration between state medical societies, government agencies, parents, the community, health care professionals, learning institutions, and specialty chapters is recommended as a way of solving the problem of increased obesity among the young people. This recommendation involves social economic collaboration of the stakeholders of the problem with a common view of curbing the increased incidence of childhood obesity. The collaboration with the governing authorities includes their contribution through supportive legal frameworks, policies, and standards on food manufacture. On the other hand, the contribution of the health care institutions and professionals in the fight against childhood obesity includes professional care and advice for the parents and children. The health care professionals also assess the condition of obesity among the affected children in addition to the determination of the health factors that predispose children to obesity and the related health implications (Melanie, Barbara & Louise, 2010). Incentives are, therefore, recommended for health care professionals and educators involved in formal and community education on healthy living, so that they are motivated to execute their roles effectively. The recommendations in the above sections are inevitably to face various challenges to implement. The stakeholders of the anti-obesity campaign must be aware of these challenges, so that they would find ways of overcoming them. Initially, the government policies on the production and retail of food products may be faced with a challenge of improving the access of the society to healthy food. This is a challenge, especially to individuals from lower social economic status. Additionally, the eating culture of the young people in addition to the food purchase behaviors of their parents is likely to be challenging to control. The role of health care providers in educating the community on healthy lifestyles for their children may not be guaranteed, taking into consideration their busy lifestyles. Consequently, the incentives that are available for the physicians in their educational role are not guaranteed to promote their participation in the campaign. This is a challenge in successful implementation of the campaign against childhood obesity because physicians have expert knowledge of the condition. Therefore, lack of their participation is likely to challenge the achievement of the corporate goal of the campaign and its specific programs. Furthermore, the collaboration of other stakeholders in the campaign against childhood obesity may be hard to achieve. The epidemiological data models, such as the incidence of obesity among children and adults within the state of Virginia as compared to national data, are important for decision making. Through the epidemiological data models, the policy makers will be able to understand the seriousness of the condition. As a result, they will make informed decisions on the most effective intervening measures for the management of the problem. Additionally, the geographical data models in terms of the highly affected area within the state will help managers to make accurate decisions on economic, social, health, and educational measures for the control of childhood obesity. For example, the high incidence of childhood obesity within the state of Virginia, compared to the national statistics, is one of the most important epidemiological data models used for the decision-making on campaigns and programs against this condition. Social economic data models, like age and economic status of the society, are important in making decisions related to the prevention and management of obesity (Evans, 2010). The incidence of the condition among children and adolescents should be categorized in relation with the age of the affected individuals. In this regard, decision-making on education programs and health interventions can be reached. More significant are the economic data models in the prevention of childhood obesity, because they provide information on the food purchase and consumption patterns. Such epidemiological models are useful in the implementation of policies and laws that govern the production and retailing of food products. Nonetheless, the social economic data models may be difficult to measure (Li, 2010). Thus, the ability to afford various food products may not reflect the social economic status of individuals. This situation is explained by the decreased cost of food within the United States, as promoted by the lower production costs. In the evaluation of the success of the campaign against childhood obesity, epidemiological data models, like the percentage decrease in the incidence and prevalence of the disorder, will be very useful for decision makers. It is assumed that the campaigns and programs against childhood obesity would reduce the incidence and prevalence of the condition to some extent. It is argued that the managers of these campaigns would require epidemiological data for evaluating the success of the campaign. It is notable that the health facilities and physicians are important sources of information and data on childhood obesity which would be useful in the evaluation of the success of the campaign. In this regard, health or medical data models will be used to evaluate the campaign. The evaluation process should, however, be carried out at a specified future period when the results of the campaign against childhood obesity would be expected. References Babooram, M., Mullan, B., & Sharpe, L. (2010). Children’s understandings of mediated health campaigns for childhood obesity. Nutrition & Food Science, 40 (3), 289-298. Evans, B. (2010). Anticipating Fatness: Childhood, Affect and the Pre-Emptive ‘War On Obesity’. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35 (1), 21-38. Li, J. (2010). Childhood Obesity and Schools: Evidence from the National Survey of Children's Health. Journal of School Health, 80 (2), 96-103. Lueke, L. (2011). Devouring Childhood Obesity by Helping Children Help Themselves. Journal of Legal Medicine, 32 (2), 205-220. Mazzeo, D., Arens, S. A., Germeroth, C., & Hein, H. (2012). Stopping childhood obesity before it begins. Phi Delta Kappan, 93 (7), 10-15. Read More