Health Promotion and Prevention of Obesity among Adults - Essay Example

Health Promotion and Prevention of Obesity among Adults Name Date Course Health Promotion and Prevention of Obesity among Adults Introduction Obesity is increasingly becoming a major public health problem in the world. It is associated with the accumulation of excessive fat that may impair health. Obesity is responsible for the death of about 2.8 million people in the world every year. The number of obese people has been doubling over the years since the 1980s. Various factors have contributed to it including poor diet. The condition is also known to contribute to other diseases including the heart diseases. Globally 10% of men are obese while 14% of the women are obese. In Oman, the number of adults who are obese has also been on the increase and it has caused a major problem in the public health. About 21% of adults in Oman are obese which a cause is for alarm is. About 26% of men and 35% of women in Oman are obese (Aljefree & Ahmed, 2015). The role of the nurse in the public health intervention when it comes of obesity plays an important role in dealing with the problem. The intervention by the nurse is useful in ensuring that the problem is prevented. This is considering that the main role of public health is to ensure that the people are aware of the health problem and hence preventing it. Most of the people in Oman lack information about the obesity and hence the need for public health promotion through the nursing model. The primary intervention can also play an important role during the prevention of obesity in Oman and this will go a long way in saving the lives of millions of people. Obesity is important to the nursing profession as the nurses are usually involved in the provision of primary care to people with obesity. The nurses are also aware of the negative impacts of obesity and are therefore better placed to initiate processes that can lead to its prevention. The nurses can be on the fore front in preventing this public health problem by being involved in the public health campaigns (Bagchi & Preuss, 2012). Providing information on the prevention measures can also be carried out by the nurses. The nurses can also be involved in encouraging the individuals to know their weight and whether it falls in the range of obesity or not. Measuring the blood pressure of the individuals can also be carried out by the nurses during the public health campaigns. This is important in ensuring that the individuals have adequate information regarding obesity. Oman currently lacks a clear policy with regards to obesity and hence making it complicated to deal with the problem from the policy point of view. However policies are being developed for the purposes of making it easy for intervention activities to be carried out. The government is also in consultations with the stakeholders for the purposes of ensuring that a clear policy is developed. This is considering that the World Health Organization has raised a lot of concern regarding the problem in the Gulf countries. The paper thus discusses the role of nurses in promoting health issues regarding obesity. Discussion Epidemiology In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of people with obesity has been on the increase over the years. About 30% of the people in the Middle East and North Africa are obese and this is a major concern for public health. It is estimated that around 79 million people in the Middle East Are obese. This makes it among the highest rates in the world as compared to other regions. Among the adults in Oman, about 26% of the men are obese while about 35% of the women are obese (Kilpi, et al. 2014). The statistics indicates that more women are increasingly becoming obese as compared to men in the region. The statistics also indicates that obesity is a result in the change of diet among most of the people in Oman and Middle East. In Oman, there is an increase in the intake of chocolate, cold drinks, milk, chips, fatty food and meat. This trend has been on the increase in the recent past as most people do not carry out exercises and they are engaged in consuming unhealthy food. Currently about 445,206 adults are obsess in Oman which is quite high. This is considering that most of adults who are obese are in the productive age. About 30% of the patients in hospital in Oman are obese and this affects their health. Oman is also considered as one of the top twenty countries with high obesity rates in its population. The country has been unable to make any meaningful gains in addressing the problem in the last 20 years. Obesity contributes to ill health and other lifestyle diseases that are responsible for the deaths of millions of people every year in the world. Obesity is responsible for a lot of health complications and some of the health problems and diseases that are linked to obesity include bad joints, stroke, and diabetes and heart ailments. Other problems associated with obesity also include low self esteem, reduced morbidity and relationship problems. The low self esteem and relationship problems in most cases are responsible for stress among the people who are obese. All the problems associated with obesity have the potential of causing death to the individuals involved. About 25 new morbidity case are usually reported in Oman every week which is directly associated with obesity. About 11% of the adults in Oman who are diabetic are also obese which is an indication of the negative impacts that it has on the health of the individuals. About 35.2 % of males and 30.9% of females are also suffering from hypertension which is directly related to obesity (Pieris, et al, 2014). Obesity therefore contributes to other health problems that have negative impacts on the heath of the population in the country. The problem of obesity is much more complicated in Oman as 60% of the people do not have adequate information regarding obesity. About 90% of the people in Oman are also engaged in unhealthy practices that contribute to obesity. This includes those who have information about the risks of obesity. The cardiovascular disease which was responsible for the deaths of about 30 million people every year is as a result of obesity. It is also important to note that the cardiovascular diseases were the leading cause of death in 2014. Obesity contributes to some of the cancers such as such as cancer of the breast, endometrial and colon (Bracci, 2012). This contributes to poor health among the people in Oman and other parts of the world. Cancer is also fatal and responsible for the deaths of millions of people every year. The risk of noncommunicable diseases also increases with an increase in the accumulation of fats. Obesity increases the burden of disease in Oman and other parts of the world. The burden of disease is increased since obesity also contributes to other health complications and diseases making it difficult for the individuals to manage it. Obesity is a major public health concern in Oman and the prevention programs can play an essential role in combating it. The World Health Organization has also singled out Oman as one of the countries with a high prevalence of obesity among the adults. This is based on the statistics from the past three decades which shows that the number of people with obesity has been increasing at a high rate. Obesity is therefore becoming an epidemic in Oman and it needs to be controlled in order to improve on the health of the population. Nursing practice in Oman aimed at preventing obesity The government in Oman has developed a five year program that is aimed at preventing obesity. This program mainly focuses on public health promotion which is useful in preventing obesity. The nurses are involved in the program as they provide the members of the public with information on how Obesity can be prevented. The nurses are usually involved in providing information about the nutrition and diet. The information is useful in preventing obesity as poor diet and unhealthy eating habits are mainly responsible for obesity (Pligt, et al, 2013). The nurses in the Oman also provide weight counseling services to the members of the public. This is usually for the purposes of enabling the members of the public to know how to maintain their weight to prevent obesity. During the public health promotions, the nurses usually advise the members of the public to know their weight which is usually checked during the promotions. The members of the public can be provided with adequate information once they know their weight. This has played an important role in informing the members of the public about obesity. Most of the health promotions by the nurses are usually funded by the government and other stakeholders in the health sector. The nurses usually move from one point to the other during the health promotion campaigns in order to provide information to the members of the public. The members of the public can also obtain the public health information from the nurse at the hospitals. The screening programs for obesity are usually carried out by the nurses in Oman for the purposes of preventing obesity. During the screening programs, the nurses are able to determine the individuals who are at risk of obesity. Such individuals are usually provided with information on how to prevent being obese. The nurse can provide such individuals with information regarding dietary issues. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the nurses usually encourage the individuals to engage in frequent exercises (Phelan, 2011). This is for the purposes of preventing obesity as most of the individuals who do not exercise are at risk of obesity. The population that is at high risk of obesity is usually targeted by nurses during the health promotion activities. The nurses in most cases usually encourage the women to participate in the screening processes. The health promotion activities by the nurses has therefore play an essential role in ensuring that the women are aware of the dangers of obesity and how it can be prevented. During the screening process, the nurses usually check for blood pressure among the members of the public. The high blood pressure can be used to determine the individuals who are at a high risk of being obese. The health promotion programs that are carried out by the nurse also target other diseases that are associated with obesity. This is considering that obesity contributes to cardiovascular diseases which are responsible for the deaths of millions of people worldwide. The nurses are usually involved in engaging the families that have adults who are suffering from obesity. Engaging the families is important as the information provided is useful in preventing the other family members from being obese. This is considering that most of the family members in Oman consume the same food. An increased physical activity among the adults is usually encouraged with adults being advised to exercise for at least 150 minutes every week. Most of the adults who are working class in Oman rarely find time to carry out exercises. It is for this reason that the health promotion usually targets such a group. The nurses in Oman are usually involved in engaging the policy makers. This is for the purposes of influencing policies that encourage the prevention of obesity. The involvement of policy makers is important in ensuring that the members of the public adhere to the guidelines that have been put in place. Nurses in Oman are frequently in contact with the members of the public who require any information about obesity. The health education materials that are used during the health promotion campaigns are usually prepared by the nurses (Dietz, et al, 2015). This is an indication that the nurses play an important role in the prevention of obesity. The public health promotion activities in Oman are usually carried out on a continuous basis so as to ensure that the members of the public have all the required information to prevent obesity. Most of the nursing practices are also aimed at preventing obesity among the adults in Oman. Justification for choosing the health promotion model The Pender’s nursing practices approach has been selected as it is widely used for the purposes of preventing obesity in Oman. According to Swinburn et al, (2011), this approach is more effective in terms of prevention as compared to the other approaches and models. The nursing practice approach focuses on the behavior of the individuals which put them at risk of being obese. The main outcome for this approach is to ensure that the individuals are able to change their behaviours and hence eliminating the risk of being obese. The focus on behavior change is considered as the most effective approach for dealing with obesity (Swinburn, et al, 2011). The behaviour change mainly involves the lifestyle of the individuals. The nurses usually advise the members of the public to observe their diet and frequently engage in exercises. This is important in term of ensuring that they are not obese. This method was also selected as it mainly focuses on the needs of the individuals when it comes to the prevention of obesity. This makes the method more effective and hence its ability to prevent obesity among the individuals in Oman. On the other hand, this approach is also beneficial to the members of the public as it ensures that individuals obtain information concerning other illness that is associated with obesity. This approach is therefore useful; in ensuring that the health of the members of the public is improved. Through the nursing practice, the individuals have a chance of asking any questions about obesity. The nurses constitute part of the interpersonal environment as they can influence the individuals to change their behaviours through health promotion. This is an indication that this approach has positive contributions towards the health of the individuals. The nursing practice approach is also familiar with the members of the public which makes it more effective and easy to implement. In Oman, the nurses can easily influence the members of the public to participate in the nursing activities during the health promotions. This is considering that the society has a lot of trust on the nurses. This makes the method more effective and practical to the members of the public. Most of the individuals usually face a lot of constrains during the process of preventing obesity from the little information that they have. However, through the use of this model, the nurses usually act as mediators and hence making it possible for the individuals to be engaged in the activities that are aimed at preventing obesity (Morgan, et al, 2011). This approach is effective as compared to the other models and approaches at it allows for the interaction with the individuals. The interactions are useful for the purposes of promoting behavior change among the individuals. Self efficacy is also targeted by this approach and hence enabling the individuals to be in charge of their own health. Self efficacy is can only be achieved through the interaction with the nurses and the nursing practices during the health promotion. This makes the approach more powerful and superior as compared to the other models. The systematic approach is one of the approaches that are used for the prevention of obesity. This approach deals with the problem of obesity through a multistage perspective. It also considers complex networks of factors and interactions. This approach usually considers policy, environment, social influence, behaviours and physiology (Dombrowski, et al, 2012). The nursing practices approach is however more effective as compared to the systematic approach and hence its selection. It is important to note that systematic approach is difficult to implement and it may end up causing difficulties to the members of the public. On the other hand, the systematic approach requires a lot of information which may be difficult to obtain easily and it may therefore take a lot of time for it work. This makes the nursing practices more effective as compared to the systematic approach. Various factors are involved in the systematic approach. This is unlike the nursing practices approach which mainly targets the behaviours of the individuals. The focus on the behavior of the individuals makes the processes easier to implement. The selection of the nursing practice approach was also based on its ability to prevent obesity through simple campaigns. The statistical results also indicate that the use of the nursing practices approach is more productive. It is also important to note that the use of the nursing practices approach is fully supported by different stakeholders including the government. The approach was also selected due to its popularity and availability of the information concerning it. How Health Promotion can be improved The heath promotion through the use of the nursing practices can be improved through the use of psychological concepts. Pbert (2013) argues that the nursing practices are mainly aimed at ensuring that the people observe their diet so as to prevent obesity. However, it may be difficult for the people to deal with eating disorders due to the craving that they may have with regards to certain food that contributes to obesity. The fast food and food with high sugar contents contribute to obesity. However, the individuals usually have a high craving for such food making it difficult for them to stop its consumption. According to the psychological theories, the craving for food is considered a psychological problem and this can be prevented through the use of psychological concepts (Pbert, 2013). The eating disorder is also considered as a psychological problem according to the xoncep0ts of psychology. The people with eating disorders can be assisted through the use of the psychological concepts. According to the psychological theories, the eating disorders are directly linked to the psychology of the individuals. Weight lose can also be achieved through the concepts of psychology and hence the importance of using the psychological concepts to deal with the problem. Dealing with weight lose is useful in preventing the individuals from becoming obese. Psychological preparation is therefore important in enabling the individuals to lose weight and prevent obesity. Using the concepts and theories of psychology can therefore be useful in improving the nursing practices during the health promotion aimed at preventing obesity. The nursing practices during the health promotion campaigns usually target the behavior change among the individuals. The behaviour change is usually aimed at ensuring that the individuals change their eating behaviours as well as the lifestyle practices. According to the behavior change theory, the issues of behavior change are mainly related to psychology. This means that the nursing practices that are aimed at changing the behaviours of the individuals in order to prevent obesity can be improved through psychological concepts and theories. The social cognitive theory is an important theory of psychology. According to the theory, individuals can gain more information by observing and interacting with other people (Brannon, et al, 2013). This can be used by the nurses during the health promotions in order to prevent obesity. The nurses should encourage the members of the community to learn and interact from those who have been successful in cutting their weight and preventing obesity. The presence of such measures will encourage the other community members to be fully committed to the processes involved in preventing obesity. Commitment of the individuals to reducing their weight is dependent on the psychological issues. The nurses should therefore learn the psychological concepts and principles so as to use the approach when providing the members of the public with health information. The use of the psychological concepts will also enable the nurses to provide more inmfp0rmation to the members of the public which will aid in the prevention of obesity. The knowledge of the psychological theory will enable the nurses to use the most effective approach when dealing with people who are at a risk of obesity. Self efficacy is one of the important aspects that health promotion by the nurses seeks to achieve. Self efficacy enables the individuals to know about their potential and use it for their own benefits. This is an important aspect of psychology according to the social cognitive theory. The nurses can use the knowledge of psychology to encourage the individuals to enhance their self efficacy skills in order to engage in regular exercises and change their diets. It is important for the nurses to ensure that the people are more confident in their abilities so as to utilize the knowledge that is passed to them by the nurse during the health promotions. The concepts of self efficacy have been successfully used in the past for predicting the health related situations. The nurses can use the self-efficacy concepts for the purposes of predicting the behaviours that are linked to obesity (Dombrowski, et al, 2012). The presence of such information can be used for the purposes of ensuring that predicting the situations such as weight loss which is directly related to obesity. The use of the self-efficacy concepts can therefore be useful in improving the health promotion outcome by the nurses. The concepts of psychology can be useful to the nurse in terms of dealing with the expected outcomes of their promotion. The knowledge and information can also be used for the purposes of informing the members of the public about the expected outcome of their actions in relation to their eating habits and prevention of obesity. Factors that may influence success The national planning programmes and government policies is one of the factors that determines the success of the health promotion by the nurses. In Oman, the government policies are not clear and specific when it comes to the prevention of obesity through health promotion campaigns. This may limit the activities that the nurses are supposed to carry out for the purposes of preventing obesity. The lack of a clear policy may also make it difficult for the stakeholders to participate in the health promotion activities. However, although the government lacks a clear policy with regards to the prevention measures it has put in place programs that are aimed at reducing the health risks among the individuals. The nurses can use utilize the programs for the purposes of carrying out the health promotion activities. The presence of adequate funding is also one of the main factors that determine the success of the program (Vuori, et al, 2013). In Oman the government usually sponsors such health promotion programs. This is an indication that the project will receive adequate funding to carry out its operations. On the other hand, other stakeholders in the health sector can also provide funding and materials required to carry out the health campaigns. The presence of adequate funding plays an important role in enabling the nurses to provide the health education to high number of people. This is because they will be able to move throughout Oman to carry out the health p0romotion activities. The perceptions and attitudes of the members of the public is also an important success factor. A positive perception and attitude of the members of the public towards the health promotion will contribute to its success. However, the public health program is likely to fail if the members of the public have a negative perception and attitude towards it. Some of the members of the public who sell some of the products that contribute to obesity may oppose the program as it will put them out of business. This is a factor that influences negative attitudes and perception among the members of the public towards the program. The level of cooperation between the members of the community member and the nurses is a determinant of success during the health promotion activities. In Oman, the community leaders have the ability to mobilize the community member. This means that the support from the community leaders is crucial in ensuring that the program is successful. The program may not be successful in case the community leaders are not involved in its operations. The cultural factors may also play a role in influencing the successes of the program. The eating habits of most of the people in Oman are influenced by cultural factors. This may impact negatively on the success of the program as it may be difficult to influence the people to change their culture. This may however require a lot of consultations with the local community leaders who have influence of the local people. The social and political factors can affect the success of the program. In Oman the society has people from different social classes. The rich dominate the market in Oman and this makes it difficult for the healthy food to be sold at an affordable price to the poor people. The inequality in the society may therefore impact negatively on the success of the program. The perception of the people towards the risk is an important factor that may determine the success of the program (Wierenga, 2013). The perception of risk among the community members when it comes to some of the lifestyle behaviours is quite low. The perception of the risks associated with eating sugary and fatty foods together with smoking is low. It is for this reason that the consumption of the food that puts the people at a risk of obesity continues. The low perception of risk among the community members may hinder the behaviour change among the individuals in Oman. The lack of adequate personnel to carry out the processes may affect the success of the program. The number of nurses in Oman is low and most of them operate under tight schedule in hospitals. The lack of adequate personnel may therefore affect the activities and it may also limit the area that the campaigns will have to be carried out. The level of education is also low in some of the regions and this may create a barrier to the health promotion by the nurses. In the areas with low levels of education, the information may not be easily understood and hence affecting the processes. The evaluation process of the intervention strategies during the health promotion is important. This is because the evaluation can be used to determine the success of the program and it can also be used for the purposes of highlighting the weaknesses (Langford, et al, 2015). The evaluation has to be carried out on a monthly basis. The success of the program will be dependent on the number of people who engage in the activities aimed at preventing obesity. A high number of people turning up for screening during the health promotion will be an indication of success in the initial phase of the program. A low turnout will be an indication of failure and the strategies have to be changed. A reduction in the number of people who are overweight will be an indication that the program is achieving its goals and objectives. However, the reduction in the number of obese adults will be an indication of success for the entire program. This can be determined through the records from the hospitals about the number of obese people. This is also considering that the nurse will be in a position to obtain such records. However, if the number of new case increases, then the program will be considered a failure. Carrying out the evaluation on a monthly basis will be useful in ensuring that changes are made immediately to ensure that improvement are made. It will also be useful in identifying failures and weaknesses in advance. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that obesity is a major public health problem in Oman. The number of adults who are obese is quite high in the country. The global statistics also indicates that the number of people who are obese in on the increase. It is evident that poor diet and lack of exercises is the main factor that contributes to obesity among the adults. Obesity has negative effects on the health of the individuals as it contributes to other deadly diseases. It is evident that obesity is linked to cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The nursing practices during the health promotion are useful in preventing obesity. It is evident that the nurses can play a major role during the health promotions through providing information on the prevention of obesity. It is also evident that the screening programs that can be useful in determining the individuals who are at a risk of obesity. The nurses in Oman are carrying out a wide range of activities that are aimed at preventing obesity. This has impacted positively on the process of combating obesity among the adults. The health promotion approach that has been selected is useful in preventing obesity among the adults. It is evident that the approach targets behavior change among the individuals for the purposes of preventing obesity among the adults. The behaviour change is mainly in terms of the diet and lifestyle activities. It is evident that the behavior change among the adults can lead to a reduction in the number of adults with obesity. The nursing practices can be improved through the use of psychological theories and concepts. It is evident that the psychological theories and concepts can aid in the behavior change among the adults in Oman. The concepts of psychology can be useful in promoting self efficacy which is important in preventing obesity. It is evident that the government polices as well as funding is useful in determining the success of the program. The support from the members of the community as well as the community leaders can play an important role in contributing to the success of the program. It is recommended that the nursing health programs should be carried out through involving the community members. The government should fully support the programs through the provision of funds. Mass media should form part of the platform for carrying out the promotion so as to reach a high number of people. The evaluations should be carried out every month to determine the success of the program and dealing with any weakness. It is also evident that more nurses should be part of the program so as to ensure that is has enough human resources. List of References Bagchi, D, & Preuss, H, 2012, Obesity: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and prevention, CRC Press. Bracci, P, M, 2012, Obesity and pancreatic cancer: overview of epidemiologic evidence and biologic mechanisms, Molecular carcinogenesis, 51(1), 53-63. Kilpi, F, et al, 2014, Alarming predictions for obesity and non-communicable diseases in the Middle East, Public health nutrition, 17(05), 1078-1086. Pieris, R, et al, 2014, Prevalence Pattern of Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Disease among Patients Presenting for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Oman, Oman medical journal, 29(3), 203. 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Vuori, I, et al, 2013, Physical activity promotion in the health care system, In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 88, No. 12, pp. 1446-1461). Elsevier. Wierenga, D, 2013, What is actually measured in process evaluations for worksite health promotion programs: a systematic review, BMC public health, 13(1), 1190. Langford, R, et al, 2015, Obesity prevention and the Health promoting Schools framework: essential components and barriers to success, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12(1), 15. Read More