Community Health Concerns - Assignment Example

Community Health Concerns due: Obesity in Etowah County in Alabama My discussion is about obesity in the community of Etowah County in Alabama. I will begin my discourse by explaining the meaning of obesity. Obesity is the excessively high amount of adipose tissue or body fat in relation to lean body mass. The body mass index is a quota employed to express the relationship or ratio of weight and height. It is a phrase in which an individual’s body weight in kilograms is divided by her/his height in meters squared (wt/ (ht) 2.

The BMI is commonly associated to body fat than any other measure of weight and height (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). According to a research conducted in 2004, in Alabama the chance of being overweight is greatest in white men (45.4%) and black females (40.7%) while white females has a slight chance of becoming obese (49.3%) (Chou, Grossman & Saffer, 2004). To be specific in Etowah County, research conducted in 2009, showed that the percentage for both female and male population was 50% of all the counties.

Obese males were 36.9% and females38.2%. In 2009, the national average was 32.8% for males and 35.1% for females (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (n.d). According to a report by Alliance for a Healthier Generation (2014), Alabama has the eighth highest rate of childhood obesity in the United States. 35% of the youth in Alabama are obese or overweight.Resources Available in the CommunityAs an advanced nurse practitioner, I will explore for means of change that will provide the upcoming generation with the opportunity to live a healthy and long life.

Moreover, the resources that are at my disposal will mainly comprise of community health centres, schools and residential homes. I would utilize these settings to conduct education and care to obese individuals.ChallengesMy main concern is if the obese individuals are ready for a discussion about the issue. This is because patients tend to make personal decisions about their health care in the situation of complicated net of interactions related to social economics which the individuals have no control.

An example is stress of living in chronic poverty or the individual’s lack of access to health care when young (Lange, 2012). One of the major challenges that I will encounter is culture diversity. People from different cultures adopt different eating habits and lifestyles. According to the information provided by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHHES), disclosed that there are significant ethnic and racial discrepancies in obesity prevalence among U.S. adolescents and children (Fryar, Carroll & Ogden, 2012).

ConclusionTo sum this up, I will join the community placements to get actively involved in educating the community about obesity and the other diseases that result from it. A lot of money is used to treat obese related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, irregular menses, psychosocial issues, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, gallbladder and liver diseases, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and coronary heart diseases. Moreover, I will focus to persuade the community to change their behaviours because that is the foundation of managing and preventing long-term problems of obesity.

In addition, I will also concentrate more teaching in nutrition, physical activities, overweight and fitness.ReferencesAlliance for a Healthier Generation. (2014). Alabama. Retrieved October 17, 2014,from https://www.healthiergeneration.org/about_childhood_obesity/in_your_state/alabama/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw_IKiBRD7rPqut_OZ4qgBEiQASm4GAk4lk5Yc68MBGFvjHYPotDU7gM_M4Ufjn37mGXSdwoIaAqYY8P8HAQChou, S. Y., Grossman, M., & Saffer, H. (2004). An economic analysis of adult obesity:results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Journal of health economics, 23(3), 565-587.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014, September 10). Overweight and Obesity.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.htmlFryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2012). Prevalence of obesity among childrenand adolescents: United States, trends 1963–1965 through 2009–2010. National Center for Health Statistics.Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (n.d.).

ETOWAH PROFILE: Etowah County,Alabama. http://www.healthdata.org/. Retrieved October 17, 2014, from http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/county_profiles/US/County_Report_Etowah_County_Alabama.pdfLange, J. W. (2012). The nurses role in promoting optimal health of older adults: Thriving inthe wisdom years. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.